Escaflowne: Twisted Fate
by Dark SpellMaster
Summary: As a child Hitomi saw a young prince being attacked by a dragon in her dream. Now at fifteen she has found herself face to face with that same man after saveing his younger brother. How does the story of a girl from the Mystic moon change? OUT OF HIBERNATION AND UPDATED!
1. Chapter 1: The illusionary messenger

Escaflowne: Twisted Fate

AN: I do not own Escaflowne. All rights are held by Sunrise Entertainment, Fox Entertaiment, and Bandai. I should note I'm using Tarot Cards like the series, and will have a foot note at the end to explain them.

Chapter One: The illusionary messenger Page of Wands

Morning light glittered in the grove like misty stained glass as it flowed through the trees canopies in the verdant forest that surrounded Fanelia. The summer sun radiated a sultry heat which evaporated the morning dew. Shadows thrown from the leaves high above etched strange and mystifying patterns along the grassy floor. The pristine silence, broken only by the lone cry of a native bird, wrapped the world in a state of safety and serenity. A serenity that was instantly shattered by the wild roar of a land dragon as it hurtled its lumbering dirt green body through the woods. It crashed through the smaller trees, knocked them over and sprayed its dark green blood on rocks that were in its way, the beast rampaged in a panic.

Behind the dragon, sprinting as fast as he could was a youth covered in the beast's blood. His brow was furrowed in concentration as his auburn eyes blinked trying to beat out the stinging green liquid. His blue green hair was drenched in the same horrid green, as were his clothing and armor. But he still followed; he had to finish this creature off, even if it meant his life. After all he was the one that had wounded it. Leaving it as it was would be an even crueler fate then to kill it. He swallowed, wishing that things didn't have to be like this.

"Why did he have to kill the dragon, Brother? That's mean." Words of wisdom from a five year old, the young man thought. His little brother, Van, not even six, was already spouting opinions. He was innocent, sweet, and full of life. The young man never wanted to see pain in those young eyes and tried to shield the boy from the worst of the world. He did not want Van to share in the grief that he felt, especially not after the death of their Father.

He could remember his mother sobbing and his little brother clinging to him asking him why their father would not wake up. The boy was only two when their Father had died and the youth had been but twelve. Back then he did not understand the ways of death, or why death took who it did. Even now at the age of fifteen he did not fully comprehend the reasons behind people dying. What he did understand was that death brought about with it a sense of sadness and pain that he never wanted visited upon his younger brother. He knew also that he was going to have to take on the responsibility of the kingdom. He had to. If he didn't then the burden would fall on his little brother's shoulders, and he hated the idea of having Van suffer that fate.

As he raced along the young man thought of the night before when he had first gone out to hunt the dragon. He recalled retching three times while wandering around. Once was due to a smell in the woods. The second was when he located where the stench had come from and he discovered the remains of a man who had gotten too close to a dragon. The other last time was due to his queasy stomach. He had laid down to rest, after the third time, and stared at the sky. Finding a dragon was not as easy as it seemed.

The young man blinked into the night sky and stared at the stars. He reached his hand up to them and whispered, "Father….please. Help me find the strength to complete this task. I don't want Van having to deal with such things."

He closed his eyes and memories of the morning before raced back to him. His mentor and teacher, Balgus, had found him sitting on top of one of the castles roofs. He had been gazing out at the world below as it was bathed in the glow of a rising sun. The small houses of wood and stone seemed to glisten in the golden hue. The older man approached him slowly. The youth did not need to turn to see the man's face. He knew it quite well. The gray receding hair, his left eye forever shut and held tight by a long jagged scar that trailed down to his cheek, the right had another wound that gave the man a craggy look.

"Prince Folken," Balgus's hand clapped down on his left shoulder and Folken moved to acknowledge that he knew Balgus was there.

"Yes Balgus?"

"Lord Folken, what are you doing up here?" The older man inquired as he glanced down at Folken.

Folken sighed. The man was like an uncle to him…no more like a Father. At times he despised that fact. After all he had had a father, one that he was proud of, but it was Balgus that had raised him as he had grown into a man. He shifted some and looked out.

"Just out here thinking."

"Of what?"

Folken shrugged, "If things are going to go as well as the council believes."

Balgus scoffed some under his breath. "Highness, if you don't believe in yourself, it will make your heart uncertain. The dragons are called by your heart. The more worried and unsure you are, the more they will sense your fear and fight back. You must learn to control it."

"Control it? But how," Folken turned and looked at the man for the first time. He scowled some.

"Find the courage within yourself. You know you have it."

"No I don't." Folken muttered. "I…I'm just not strong enough, Balgus."

He turned to look out at the horizon wondering if this was the only path he could take, a distant look came over his boyish looks causing him to look much older then he truly was.

" Father…" Folken hesitated as he thought carefully how to word what he was feeling. "Father was a strong man, and he left us. What will they do if something were to happen to me? Mother and Van…They'd…they'd be all alone."

Balgus gripped the young man's shoulder and Folken glanced back up at him from his hunched over state. His stern gaze gave Folken the impression of an ancient statue that had once guarded the tomb of a great king; it suited his mighty status as a Samurai of Fanalia.

"Your fear is what causes you to have pain. Lord Folken, fight it. Fight the fear within you and cast it aside. You…and you alone can find the courage in your heart to do so. Find the thing that gives you that courage and use it. Only then can you truly find a way to defeat the uncertainty in your heart. Fight, Lord Folken. Only then can you overcome your fears."

Folken sat up and sighed deeply. The darkness still surrounded him and he covered his eyes with his hand, thinking, _Fight my fears huh? But how, how do I fight something that's an instinct? You either fight or flee, and when faced with something like this, you tend to want to flee._

"Fight…" He uttered quietly and pulled his hand away remembering what he told Van. "A King of Fanelia is destined to fight…"

"Find the thing that gives me courage?" Folken sat up and stretched. "A lot of good that will do me when I don't even know what I'm looking…."

He gritted his teeth and was about to give a curse when he heard a giggle. Glancing to his side the young noble man stared in wonder at a little girl of about five. Her green eyes stared at him from under bangs of light brown hair that flipped up in the middle of her neck. Her eyes were smiling at him and the giggle on her lips was intoxicating. He gave a small smile that slipped out at her, "Hey there little one. What are you doing out here in the dark? Where are your parents?"

Folken paused giving the girl a good look. Her clothes were unlike any he'd seen before. She had on a pink night dress, but it was made of material that he was sure wasn't made in Fanalia, and her feet were bare. She was cute, innocent, and reminded him of Van.

The girl smiled at him as he got up to move a bit closer to her. She looked at him with wide eyes.

"Who are you?" he asked her quietly, but she just laughed at him and pointed.

"Prince."

"Ah…" Folken looked surprised, and then smiled again when she laughed. He pointed to himself.

"Yes, that's right, I'm a prince, and you're in my kingdom," He knelt down to her, "Now little girl, you shouldn't be out here. It's very dangerous."

He was getting up when he heard a loud roar and turned. Worry filled his mind. _Damn. Dragon, but how could it have found us?_

"This is no place for you to be little one," He turned fast to grab the girl, but she had vanished. Folken looked around calling out. "Girl…Little girl…where are you?"

He glanced up at the sky and blinked seeing the mystic moon float overhead. _Could…Could she have been…_He shook his head and rubbed his eyes.

"No, that's not possible; she was just a dream and nothing more."

Early morning light bathed the forest in a deep golden yellow, making everything look magical. Folken would have liked to linger there longer to take in the beauty of the place, but knew time was short.

The dragon's roar lingered in the air a moment then disappeared. Folken glanced back in the direction of Fanelia and held his hand over his brow so the sun did not blind him. He had grabbed his sword and shield and made sure his armor was on tight. He then took a deep breath.

"Find the courage. Alright Folken, you heard the man. You had better find it fast or you're dead."

He'd managed to find the beast less than two hours after venturing deeper into the forests. The land dragon had been larger than he had expected it to be. Its yellow eyes glowed with a luminescence that frightened him, but he landed a solid hit on the neck with his sword. The beast howled and slashed out at him with its tail, hitting him with the muscular blunt middle of the tail, knocking the wind out of Folken and sending him crashing hard against a tree. He grunted and ducked aside just in time to avoid being decapitated by the same razor sharp end of it.

As their battle raged on, Folken barely stayed a step ahead of the monster. More than once he was taken by surprise by the dragon's attack, and had to doge to keep from being bitten by its fangs. Realizing the beast had the upper hand Folken bolted after a particularly nasty blow and ran farther into the forest with the creature following him all the way. The dragon hit him with a burst of fire as they entered a grove, throwing him down, and he lost his shield.

"Damn it!" he cursed and threw the hot useless metal aside. Now all he had was his chest plate, and arm and leg guards to protect him. He snarled, dove aside, and rolled as the dragon reared up to stomp him. He slashed its side and used the momentum to scramble up near the top of its neck slicing a deep wounding cut. That's when he was sprayed by its blood and the beast threw him off, sending him crashing into some bushes.

The dragon roared in agony and ran off. Folken felt his heart shudder at its pain.

_Why must there always be such suffering?_ He wondered as he got up to go after it. The beast was now rampaging and injuring itself far worse. Why had he not just killed it swiftly? The beast had gotten farther ahead and Folken was worried that it would find its way out into the country side. He cursed in his head for being so stupid and not finding a quicker way to dispatch of it. But Van's words haunted him. Killing the Dragon was mean. Why was that bothering him now of all times?

He sheathed his sword and hastened after the dragon as quickly as his legs would let him. Keeping his head low he took the higher path of the forest watching and listening for signs of the monster. Folken finally caught up with it in a large thicket where there was a dark area that it could hide in. The dragon was exhausted and frightened that much he could tell, and slowly Folken tried to calm his beating heart as he faced it.

The beast stared at him, and Folken felt his heart relaxing as its eyes started to shut. He hopped it would just die without him having to actually pierce its outer hide.

"Dragon!" a young voice made Folken look behind him and he gasped to see the girl there again. Suddenly the dragon's eyes snapped open and it turned its eyes on her. Folken grabbed her up in his arms and dove aside. The beast missed biting off his arm, but it ripped a large gash into it. Folken screamed and the girl whimpered.

She moved out from under him and he looked at her. "Run…get out of here. You'll get hurt."

The girl shuddered some afraid, her eyes had a far off look that he couldn't quiet place, and then she suddenly gasped, "Look out."

He looked up and saw the dragon rushing towards him ready to chew off his arm. Folken dodged and realized that the beast would kill the girl if it got any closer to her.

_I have to protect her!_ He thought and brought up the sword into the underside of the beast's belly as he slid away from its talons. The dragon roared and then stumbled, its guts and blood spilling over the ground. Folken breathed harshly as he watched the dragon die and walked slowly over to it when its eyes were closed. He raised the sword, cut out the drag energist and gently pulled it from its body.

"Thank you," said the young prince to the dead beast as its body dissolved into ash. When it was gone he collapsed to his knees and held the energist close, nearly crying. He was going to have to tell his brother about this. The people would be talking about it for a long time, he was sure of that. He wondered if what he had done was going to make him a monster in Van's eyes. A shudder of dread passed through his body, and then he felt a small hand touch his arm and looked down to see the girl.

"Okay? It's going to be okay." she asked him softly and he blinked some staring into her eyes nodding.

"Yes," he blinked. "Are you alright?"

She nodded and then put her arms around him. "Don't cry."

"Uh…"

He looked at her and put his non injured arm around her.

"I won't…"

The girl smiled then. "No cry, Prince?"

Folken nodded gently and wiped the dirt off her face. "No cry. And you shouldn't cry either. You're safe now."

The girl nodded but still held onto him. He relaxed just a bit at feeling her small warm grip and was letting himself calm down when suddenly Folken felt her grip slip away. He blinked hard as she vanished from sight fading away as fast as she had appeared. He sat there in shock, felt all the adrenaline rush from his body, and he fell to the ground passing out.

It was hours later when he awoke to find himself wrapped in warm blankets and his wounded arm being tended to. A wolf woman with graying brown hair looked at him softly.

"You're finally awake." She said gently as Folken sat up rubbing his head.

"Where…where am I?"

"The outskirts of the southern woods, Lord Folken, I am Taliga, a healer. Please rest, you have lost lots of blood."

Folken nodded and heard noise coming from outside the tent. When the flap opened Taliga furrowed her brow. "Ruhm, what did I tell you. Let the young man rest."

The fifteen year old wolf man grinned, and put his fists on his hips.

"I just came to see if he was in one piece. When we found him, he was a real mess." Ruhm said. "How are you feeling Folken?"

Folken smiled weakly. He'd known the young wolf man since childhood and was glad to see him. "Better I'll admit. By the way Ruhm, was…"

Ruhm tilted his head at him when Folken paused, "Yeah?"

Folken thought a moment. They would think he was mad, or maybe delusional, but he asked just the same.

"Was there a little girl in the woods?"

Ruhm blinked twice then laughed, "Even injured you still have a sense of humor Folken. That's a good thing for a king to have."

"I…I'm serious Ruhm, was there a child in the woods. Please I need to know." He looked at the wolf man in earnest, and Taliga shook her head. She thought he'd likely lost enough blood to be hallucinating. Ruhm knew better. Folken was the last person to make up stories. He slowly shook his furry head.

"No, we found no one there except for you," he motioned to the discarded shield and sword. "And you're mangled up shield. What did you do to it? Let that thing have a free range roasting?"

Folken leaned back then and looked up. _Then what was she? A hallucination or some vision? Or maybe she was just an angel that was sent to save me?_

In the city of Kamakura Japan a little girl woke up from a startling dream.

"Mommy!" she cried out and her mother hurried from her room.

"Sweetheart, what's the matter?"

The woman held the child in her arms and the little girl sobbed.

"Mommy, I…I saw a prince, and he…he got hurt by…by a dragon. Mommy…I'm scared. Will the prince be okay Mommy?"

Her mother looked at her curiously, "Prince? What prince dear."

"The prince with blue hair," the little girl explained. "He was chasing a dragon. I saw him. He was covered with green stuff….and…and then the…the dragon…"

"Shhh…love shhhh, Hitomi my dear. It was only a dream," Her mother said softly but noted the strange dried green liquid on her nightgown. Just where had her child been in the middle of the night?

Note: The Page of Wands has the main meaning of being a messenger from far away about a trip, career move, leadership position, or something spiritual. A trustworthy, reliable young person, with an inborn desire to bring happiness, excitement and light to those around. This person is a messenger of good news and witty gossip. A person who is faithful in service to superiors. From the website.


	2. Chapter 2: Courage from Afar

Escaflowne: Twisted Fate

**AN: Thanks for the reviews. I was really surprised to see so many here. I do hope that you enjoy this story.**

_Chapter two: Courage from Afar (Seven of Wands)_

_Where am I?_ Hitomi Kanzaki looked around; she was floating in the air high above a frightening site. Buildings were on fire, and people scrambled to avoid being hit by a strange silver liquid. Bodies of men in odd armor littered the ground, stabbed through with the liquid as it hardened into a single shaft with a sharp needled tip point. Hitomi twisted about hoping to see something she could recognize in the wild panic, as she was set down on the ground. She could smell burning ash and coughed hard as the smoke engulfed her, forcing her to fall to her knees. It was so intense that she could hardly breathe.

All around her she felt people rush past, their shadows lingered on the walls as they ran. People carried what they could, some dropping the items half way to escape a falling pile of stone. She heard someone shouting. "It's the invisible enemy! Run!"

"In…invisible enemy?" she wondered aloud then saw it, a huge robot like giant that crashed through the city on two legs. The strange monster like robot wavered as if covered by sheet of liquid glass, turning it invisible to everyone but her. Fire flew from one arm, while the other morphed into a sword from the silver liquid. Hitomi gasped as more of these creatures appeared and she started to run. She had to find somewhere safe.

_I don't want to die here! Someone please help me! _

"Where are you planning to run girl?" a light airy voice asked her, and Hitomi looked back to see in the flames the figure of a woman. She stopped when she found herself blocked by a wall. Turning Hitomi looked before her; a wall of flames had sprung up to block her way back. She was trapped! The image twisted and contorted from behind the flames, but it was clearly a woman that stood only a few inches taller than she.

"Who…who are you?" Hitomi asked. She was scared and screamed as a piece of burning cinder fell off a stone building. "No…stay away from me."

"You have nowhere to run…soon enough we shall meet young one, and then we shall see if you truly can overcome all that you see."

The woman began to fade and Hitomi shouted out to her.

"Wait! Please stop!"

But it was too late. The woman was gone and that was when the ground started to shake under her feet. Hitomi screamed as the floor shattered into a million pieces and she fell.

"Help me!" she cried out, willing, pleading to God to help her. Send someone to stop her from falling into the dark abyss. But when no one came she was about to give up hope.

_No…please…Mother…Grandmother…someone please help me!_

"Quick grab my hand," a voice called out to her, and Hitomi looked up to see a bright light and someone's hand reach out to her. Hitomi held her hand up and saw the figure of someone falling along with her, their hand outstretched to hers. Behind the person she saw wings. Beautiful angelic wings that spread out wider than the man's arms, she was almost certain it was a man, because his grip was tight and strong. He grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her close.

"I'll never let you fall Hitomi," she heard him say. "Hitomi…"

"Hitomi…Hitomi! Oh come on! Get up!" shouted a female voice and Hitomi opened her eyes to see the face of her best friend Yukari Uchida looking down at her. The auburn haired young woman smirked some.

"Wake up sleeping beauty; you can't nap on such a nice day." She wagged her finger teasing.

Hitomi blinked and sat up blushing, running her fingers through her short brown hair. She was back on the roof of the Kamakura-Kita High School and the dream was fading. She couldn't remember much save for the flash of white wings that floated in her memory.

"I…I wasn't napping."

"Uh huh," teased Yukari with a smile and poked Hitomi in the cheek. "That's why you were snoring."

"Wha…" Hitomi turned red. "I was not!"

"Sure you were. The whole school heard it." Yukari teased gently and then grinned. "Oh come on Hitomi lighten up."

Hitomi sniffed some crossing her arms, then smiled and looked a bit ashamed. "Sorry, I guess I was a bit tired this morning."

"Yeah I noticed," Yukari commented crossing her arms over her knees. Resting her head gently on top she looked at her best friend. "So…what were you dreaming about? Hummm, I wonder, was it a handsome prince to sweep you off your feet or maybe a certain captain of the boy's track team?"

Hitomi blushed at the second comment and Yukari grinned devilishly.

"Yukari that's not funny."

Yukari sighed, "I guess not. But seriously, when are you going to tell him? You've been watching him with love sick eyes ever since the start of the track season."

Hitomi blushed harder, and put her fingers together, "I…Yukari…I don't know. I will…I mean…what would he see in a freshman like me."

Yukari lowered her eyelids and shrugged, "Oh I don't know. That you're cute and sweet…and that you're one of the fastest runners, and…"

"Yukari I don't mean like that…"

"And you make a mean set of sugar cookies!"

Hitomi nearly rolled her eyes at her best friend who chuckled.

"Seriously Hitomi, you better do something quickly or he's going to be nabbed by someone else."

Hitomi sighed as she got up and looked over the top of the guard rail. Below gym class for the seniors was being held and the boys were doing sprints. Standing at the start of the fifty yard dash was a brown haired boy, who stood sure and tall. He smiled and waved at one of his friends as they jogged past.

Yukari joined Hitomi at the rail and looked down as the teacher called for the boys to be ready. Then the whistle blew and the tall senior took off like a shot. He ran quickly, pumping his arms and legs in perfect time. A track star in the making that was the only way to describe him, the "him" being Susumu Amano. When Hitomi had seen him at a track meet during the last weeks of her middle school career she knew she had to meet him. There was just something about him that amazed her.

Hitomi watched happily as he raced ahead of the other runners.

Amano…she started to think but then the wings flashed in her mind and she stood up from leaning on her arms. Yukari glanced over.

"Hitomi?"

"I…I'm fine, just remembered something from my dream that's all" Hitomi said softly. Yukari smiled.

"Oh? What?" she giggled, "Is it something private?"

"No, nothing like that," Hitomi blushed and Yukari grinned. "It's…it's just that…I saw wings."

Yukari stared with raised eyebrows. She had been leaning forward with a cat like grin, expecting some sort of juicy bit of information. This had come as a surprise.

"Wings?"

"Yes…wings." Hitomi got down from the side of the wall and Yukari joined her, "Big white angel wings."

Yukari gazed at her friend, "Angel wings? Hitomi you weren't looking at birds before you fell to sleep were you?"

"No," Hitomi said seriously. "I…it was weird. I know I saw buildings on fire, and there…there was someone else there. If felt like I was watching something that was going to happen. But…but the person felt like they were in the present, and then…the ground collapsed and I fell. But…"

"But…" Yukari urged her friend on and Hitomi swallowed some.

"But then I saw someone reach out for me…no it was a man, I'm sure of that. And he had white angel wings. And…and he said something to me. But I can't remember what."

Yukari smiled some, "Hitomi…"

"I know, it sounds silly."

Yukari shook her head, "No…it sounds like an exciting dream. But that's all it was, just a dream."

Yukari stood up and stretched, "Hey we still have a few minutes before class starts again, and I think Yuko wanted you to tell her fortune. What do you say?"

Hitomi looked out at the gray granite wall blow the railing at her shadow. For a second she was sure that behind her she saw the wings, but then blinked and they were gone. Glancing back up, she nodded.

"Yes, okay."

As the two young women headed down the stairs from the roof Yukari quickly reminded Hitomi that she had to be on time for the track practice, "It's timed. They want to know where to slate you for the meet next week. But I know you; they'll have you running in the first heat."

"Really? You think?" Hitomi asked and Yukari nodded.

"Yeah the coach thinks you're ready for it," She grinned, gave Hitomi thumbs up and winked, "And having the manager of the team as your best friend didn't hurt either."

Hitomi scowled some, "Yukari you didn't…"

Yukari laughed, "Of course not. I wouldn't influence the coach's choice," She shrugged, "Not like I could anyway."

Hitomi nodded and smiled. "Yukari…"

"Yeah…?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"For knowing how to cheer me up," Hitomi smiled and Yukari smiled back, then put her arms behind her head and closed her eyes with a cocky grin on her face.

"Hey that's what best friends are for. Besides you can pay be back later with your desert next week."

* * *

Far away from the simplicity of Kamakura, Japan, a young man with dark black hair slipped out of his room. His brown eyes explored the hallway in the twilight. Once assured that there was no one around, he moved swiftly and silently down the hall of his family's castle. A young guardsman was walking along one of the thin ramparts and the young man duck aside. He waited a moment or two then moved quietly along a wall so as not to be seen.

_Damn, why did Brother have to station guards out here tonight?_ The young man thought and noticed something move in the shadows. A pair of bright eyes gleamed out at him and he saw a tail twitch. The young man put his finger up to his lips to silence the creature. The shadow creature made the same motion and he crept low to the ground holding his breath as the guard moved along the rampart. Counting to ten, the young man then made a quick, stealthy dash for the creature, grabbed it by its shoulders and pushed it into an open doorway. He held his hand over the creature's mouth.

"Keep still."

The creature let out a small gasp, but did as was told as the young man pushed open the door, and pushed the creature inside with him. Once the door was shut and secured he turned to look at the beast. Lighting a lamp he scowled. He was no more than fifteen, dressed in a red sleeveless shirt, white loose pants, a pair of boots, and a pair of brown leather gloves; he held the air of a young punk. The scowl on his face was more than enough to tell the creature that he was unhappy.

That creature was a cat girl with pink hair, orange fur and an irresistible smile. Her bright blue eye blinked out at him, and she tilted her head. She was only two years younger than the boy, and was his dearest friend. Squatting down, her tail flicked from under her yellow sun dress.

"Don't smile like that," the boy scowled again trying to stay mad at the cat girl, but she kept on grinning.

"Smiling like what?" the girl asked and he sighed.

"Merle, what are you doing out here? I told you to stay in your room. If the guards had seen you they would have spotted me too, and then we both would have been in trouble."

"I know, I know, and then your brother would have grounded you." Merle said waving her hand. She grinned, "But they didn't see me, and now we can go out together!"

Van stared at her and put his hand on his forehead. "You are not coming with me Merle, and that's final."

Merle looked at him with pleading eyes, "But…but Lord Van…"

"No!" he said seriously. "It's too dangerous."

"It is not! You'd be there to protect me!" she exclaimed and Van blinked, then shook his head.

"No I couldn't. I'm going to be concentrating on finding a dragon."

Merle pouted and whined, "But Lord Van…"

"No," he said sounding firm. "I don't want you to get hurt Merle, and that's final. You can help me though. I need to get to the armory quickly."

She pouted a bit more and he smiled, "I promise when I get back I'll take you to the festival."

Her eyes lit up and her tail swished happily, "Really?!"

Van smiled and nodded, "Really. I promise."

She pounced on him, snuggling him. He laughed and patted her head.

"Okay enough."

Van went quiet as he heard the approaching guards again and doused the lights. In the dark Merle moved cautiously to the door and peeked out. She watched as two men walked along chatting quietly.

"Can you believe it's going to be the Kings ten year anniversary? I mean, he's only twenty five and he's already been serving that long."

The second, carrying a sword, laughed. "Yeah I know, and he doesn't look a day over twenty."

"Wonder what sort of events we're going to have? It's only a day away."

"I just hope the Prince is going to behave himself." Said the second and the first nodded.

"Well what do you expect? He's at that rebellious stage, and losing his parents at such a young age, his brother's the only one he can rebel against."

Van frowned as they laughed. Did they all think he was some sort of joke? That he was just a little boy like his brother believed. Well, he would show them, and his brother. He glanced at Merle who nodded that the coast was clear and the two went running out. They climbed up on the edge of the rampart and Merle then clambered up onto the low hanging roof. She extended her hand and helped Van up. Van slipped up the inclined slope of the roof and went close to the wall. He kept his back straight and looked over Fanelia as it was bathed in moon light. This was his kingdom, just as much as it was his brother's.

"Van, you don't have to go after a drag energist," Folken's words emanated from Van's mind as he recalled their last conversation the morning before.

"It's my right!" Van had yelled and Folken had looked at him with his quiet eyes. The young Prince huffed angrily. "Even Balgus says I'm ready for this…you got to go through with it…"

"I _had_ to go through with it, Van," corrected his brother and Van scowled. Folken sighed. "I just feel you're not ready for this sort of…"

"You're just scared," Van spat back and Folken frowned.

"That's not true Van."

"Yes it is!" Van exclaimed and clenched his fists. "You're always trying to keep me from growing up!"

"Van, there are other ways of growing up, slaying a dragon doesn't prove anything…"

"This coming from the man that said that it was the duty of the King to fight…" Van hissed back. Folken growled.

"You're too gentle to be King Van…"

Van looked at his brother with shock and Folken looked back suddenly regretting what he had said. He looked away for a moment then back at Van with a worried expression on his face.

"Van, I'm sorry I didn't…"

"Don't…don't you even dare say you're sorry! You meant every word of that. You think I'm too weak to actually help you, don't you!" Van shouted, holding in tears that were starting to sting the corner of his eyes. "Well you're wrong! I can help and I'm going to prove it to you!"

"Van!" Folken called to his brother as the younger man ran from the room. In the dark Van slid down the wall and sat down. Merle stopped.

"Lord Van?" She asked quietly and perched next to him. He sighed.

"He thinks I'm still a kid, Merle. Why does he worry so much about me?"

Merle looked at him thoughtfully, "Maybe he's just scared that you're going to go away on him like your Mom and Dad did."

Van looked up and then pushed himself up, "Well I will go away if he keeps trying to keep me locked up. Come on, if I don't leave soon, the guard will notice that I'm missing and sound the alarm."

Merle nodded. She swiftly led the way to a high window that looked down onto the armory. Van gazed down at the silent room as small flecks of dust danced in the shaft of light coming from the window. He saw his shadow on the floor. It looked so small compared to how tall he really was.

_Just like a kid_, he thought pushing the window open. Merle slipped in first, stirring up more dust, and Van followed. He landed in a crouch on the floor, stood up, and looked around the room. Chest plates and arm guards glittered in the moon light with a celestial glow. It was a bewitching scene, and he went over to a case where the royal sword sat. His brother never used it, saying that he had no intention of ruling with a sword.

"The people have to trust their leaders," Folken had told him. "If they see their actions as self-serving then the leader becomes a tyrant. I will not become like that."

"Brother…" Van whispered. He hesitated recalling times when Folken let him use the sword and would smile.

"You're doing so much better," the older sibling would complement the young prince. Van would grin and look at Balgus then back at Folken who would give him a smile that was only reserved for Van.

Van pulled his hand away, than narrowed his brow. He had to do this. Reaching out he unlocked the case and pulled out the sword, and then took a chest plate, shoulder and arm guards, along with a pair of leg guards. Lastly he pulled out a shield and turned to face Merle after he had strapped it all on.

"Well" Van asked her and Merle clapped.

"You look just like a samurai!"

Van chuckled a little, "No I don't, but it'll do its job and keep me safe. Wish me luck Merle."

She nodded and hugged him again. "Come back safe Lord Van."

With that she led him out of the armory and down the halls to the front door of the castle.

"Stay in my room and pretend to be me."

She nodded, and, with a quick lingering look, turned and raced back inside. Van wondered if the twins would catch her, he hoped not. Taking a deep breath he jogged towards the stables.

_So I'll borrow a horse to get to the woods, than leave it there. That way I have something to ride on when I get back._ He thought, and then paused, _if_ he got back. The night air made him breathe deeply as he ran for the stables. The quicker he left the more time he had ahead of the guard when they discovered him missing. He knew Folken would be angry, but it was a consequence he was willing to deal with.

As he neared the stable he smiled. This was turning out to be easier than he had expected. Van was just pushing open the gate, when he heard a shrill cry of a hawk and turned his head to see the flash of something gold zoom down at his head. He ducked and moved out of the way as the bird came at him again.

"Hey! Knock it off!" he yelped as the hawk scratched at his arm guards. He had raised his hands to protect his face. The hawk kept at it.

"I said stop!"

He heard the sound of footsteps drawing closer and saw a figure in shadow. He could make out a female form, and see the glittering gold from her high collared tunic.

"Call him off!" Van shouted at the woman. The woman clucked her tongue and shouted to the hawk.

"Atherios. Enough!"

The hawk let out a call and flew over to its master's out stretched arm. The hawk's master glanced over at Van as he caught his breath. He glared at the woman in the shadows.

"Just what do you think you were trying to do?"

"I was doing my duty. Keeping people from stealing the steeds," the woman peered out at Van with a slight smile. "And what were you doing out here, Lord Van?"

"That's none of your concern," he shot back and gulped as Atherios screeched at him.

"Hush," said the master to the hawk. Van looked up at the woman and saw her hair whip in the night wind. She eyed Van with a stern look and then glanced out at the gate.

"Dawn will be here soon."

Van nodded. The woman paused and looked at him gently.

"Take the brown colt. He's the fastest we have. You're better going on foot when you get close to the woods. They tend to like horse flesh."

She tossed him a small bundle. "My dinner, take it."

Van looked surprised as he caught it. He untied the bundle and looked inside to find a small loaf of bread, meat, cheese and some green leafy vegetables. Van looked up at the woman, softly said thanks to her before she waved and walked away from him.

Heading inside the stable Van found the brown colt that the woman had mentioned. The colt stared at him with gentle brown eyes, and he stroked the horse's strong neck.

"Well this seems to be my lucky night after all."

Bridled and saddled, the young prince led the colt out of the stables and through the quiet streets. He knew that the woman would at least keep the guard from noticing he was missing till he was out of the gates. But after that…

"You'll probably be the first to report me missing…" he muttered as he made it to the gateway and swung up on the horse. Patting its side Van looked out over the vast grassy prairie and at the Fanelian forest in the distance. He grinned; this was going to be a very exciting day.

_Note: The Card: Seven of Wands indicates a successful advancement. A time of great opportunity requiring much skill, courage and determination in order to succeed. Strength of nerve, great fortitude and courage in the face of hardship. An indication that success may be achieved through sustained effort. Indicates strong and powerful competition. It's also called Lord of Valor._


	3. Chapter 3: Fateful Choices

Escaflowne: Twisted Fate

**AN: I had to split my second chapter in half. Escaflowne is owned by Bandai Visual, Sunrise Entertainment, and various other groups. All new Characters are my creation. (Name change due to finding a character that works here, though her backstory is my own as of now)**

_Chapter 3: Fateful choices (Eight of Cups)_

"Oh man I'm late!" Hitomi shouted as she flew from the girls' locker room in her track suit. Her nylon jersey and pants swished as she raced through the campus, arms and legs moved in perfect time. She was grasping her track shoes in her hands as she beat a quick pace across the courtyard, shouting back at friends who called to her.

"Hitomi, practice started!"

"Yeah I know!" she called back.

"Hitomi, can you tell my fortune?" a girl called out to her.

"Later," Hitomi shouted back as she nearly tripped down the stairs running at top speed. Jumping the last few steps she landed on the ground and hurried over to the stands where the girls track team was warming up. Yukari sat on one of the steps of the stand and sighed annoyed.

"Where is she?"

"Here I am!" Hitomi called out to her best friend who got up.

"Hitomi! You're late!" Yukari raised her voice and put her hands on her hips. "You realize that I'm the team manager, and _I _get into trouble when _you're_ not on time. Besides you won't be able to keep your place on the team if you're always late. Practice starts at four on the dot, you know this."

Hitomi blushed some but smiled, "I know, I'm sorry, I got hung up working on that essay for class."

Catching her breath she looked over at the track. "Have the boys team finished their run yet?"

"Not yet, it's their last run," Yukari told her and teased, "And he's going to be in it."

Hitomi grinned watching Amano as he prepped for the run. Taking his mark he looked extremely determined. Her heart skipped a beat as the gun signaled the start and the young captain took off. He moved gracefully down the track, and she could see the focus in his eyes. When he crossed the finish line Yukari let out a happy yelp and glomped onto Hitomi.

"Amano is so awesome! Look," she showed Hitomi the stop watch. Hitomi glanced at it, reading the time, 10.64 seconds.

"He just beat the 11 second mark!" Yukari chirped happily. Hitomi grinned and looked at Amano with awe.

"He sure is something," she said softly. It was just then that the coach called out for the girls' team to line up for their first race. Hitomi was still staring at Amano, and Yukari felt a twitch in her temple. She grabbed hold of her best friends track pants and pulled them down, revealing a pair of pink running shorts.

"Hey!" Hitomi blushed and covered herself up. Yukari just grinned.

"I get it. I'm going."

Moments later Hitomi was crouching down upon the track, one knee poised over the ground. Her hand clasped tightly around the pendent she wore. A simple item, it was nothing more than a gold chain with an ovular stone in the center hanging between two gold holders, the bottom one had a little point to it. The whole thing reminded Hitomi of a pendulum.

Releasing the pendent she got on her mark. Looking ahead she smiled. She could do this.

"Ready?" shouted the coach, then fired the starting gun. Hitomi took off quickly; gaining speed she sprinted ahead of the pack and was taking the lead when she suddenly saw flashes of a boy running through the dark of night with a sword drawn. His black hair blurring his vision slightly, his head was level and down, and his dark eyes were bright with the same determination that Amano had just shown in his run. There was a jump in reality and the boy shifted to be right in front of her, Hitomi couldn't stop. She gasped out when she realized they were going to crash. The boy looked just as shocked and seemed more surprised to see her running at him. Hitomi braced for the inevitable hit, but instead she ran right through him.

Then the world went black and she felt hot wind hit her face.

It's hot…why is the wind so hot? When she opened her eyes she saw the same giants she had seen before in her dream. Hitomi stared in shock and started to scream. Flames shot up around her as the giant robots came marching for her. Instantly the world shifted and she found herself in a room where a man was talking to the boy she had run though. She was standing next to a wooden pillar and put her hand up to get some balance.

The man was dressed in a mix of Roman and Japanese armor. His graying hair and scared face made Hitomi feel a bit uneasy around him. But his voice was kind, though serious. He reminded her very much of her track coach.

"Prince Van, are you ready for today's hunt?"

"Yes," the boy said and looked over the weapons then back at the man.

"Balgus, do you think I'm ready to hunt a real dragon, as my brother did?"

The man named Balgus nodded, "I think you're certainly prepared enough for it…"

"He's not going on a dragon hunt," a new voice came from behind a screen. Hitomi leaned some to see who was speaking but didn't want to be seen. She listened quietly.

The boy, this Prince Van, looked angry. "What do you know?! You hardly ever spar with me. How can you tell if I'm ready or not…"

"Because you're too young, and you'll only get hurt." The second voice said.

"My Lord, perhaps you should give your brother a chance…" Balgus was saying and the voice coolly replied.

"To do what, get killed? I was fifteen when I went on my hunt, Balgus, and you know what happened to me. I will not have my brother get his limbs ripped off or worse, because he wants to slay a dragon."

"I will not get my limbs ripped off!" Van shouted back. "You always treat me like a child."

"Because you act like one," the voice replied.

"I'm not like you. I won't turn my back on my enemy!"

Hitomi saw Van rush out of the room pushing past whoever had been speaking, and the scene went dark. Hitomi felt bad for the boy, whoever was talking to him certainly sounded very protective. She glanced around and realized she was standing before a tower that looked very much like one from her tarot deck.

_What in the world…_she was wondering when the tower was hit by lighting and the top was cleaved off. Blue flames exploded from the center engulfing the tower and the ground cracked. She screamed just as it gave way. Again she was falling, just like in her morning dream. Only this time she saw a single piercing light and the white winged angel flew down to offer her his hand. He said nothing, and she wasn't sure if it was the same person. But she took his hand all the same.

"Kanzaki!"

Hitomi blinked open her eyes as she heard the sound of a clock ticking. It took her a moment or two to focus her eyes, and she realized she was in the nurse's room.

"Huh?" she uttered then blushed seeing Amano leaning over her. He was so close to her face that she could feel his warm breath on her lips and thought he was going to kiss her. He smiled gently.

"You're awake. I was getting a bit worried there."

He was dressed in his track suit and it finally hit Hitomi. The practice was over and he had taken her to the nurse's office because…

"What happened, Amano?" she asked quietly.

Amano gave her a gentle look, "You tripped and passed out. We were all pretty worried."

She sat up and he pushed her back down, "Lay down Kanzaki."

"But there, there was a boy on the field." She said and described the dream she had had. Then felt silly as Amano laughed gently and smiled.

"Sounds like a wild dream Kanzaki, I wish I had had one like that."

"You probably wouldn't have screwed up like that," Hitomi blushed and Amano looked a bit sheepish.

"Well I think you did very well. I can see you've been working very hard since Jr. High. It shows."

Hitomi turned crimson at the compliment.

"You…you just seem so determined when you run; so sure of yourself."

Amano laughed, "Well not always. But, I do stay focused, that's how I managed to get that time today. I just forgot about everything else, let my mind go blank and ran as fast as I could. I just focused on what I wanted to achieve, and I made my goal."

Hitomi nodded impressed by the captain. He glanced down at her hand and noticed her clasp the pendent.

"Hey what's that?"

"This?" she asked, and then realized he was staring at her pendent. She smiled. "Oh, this, it was a gift from my grandma. It's my good luck charm."

Hitomi took it off and swung it. The pendent went back and forth in perfect strokes.

"It actually can keep the time, one swing for every second."

Now it was Amano's turn to look impressed.

"Really? May I try?"

"Sure." Hitomi handed over the pendent. Amano took it, held it straight and watched the clock's second hand. He started to swing just as the clock's small red second hand hit the six and he started to count slowly in time with the swings.

"One, two, three..."

"Four, Five," Hitomi joined in listening to the ticks. Her eyes moved between the pendent and the clock, soon the two were counting at the same time.

"And six, and seven, and eight…"

Amano suddenly stopped and turned to lean close to her again, Hitomi flushed red.

"Kanzaki, I…" he started to say when the door burst open and Yukari came in.

"Hey Hitomi how are you…"

The red head gapped some seeing Amano leaning over Hitomi and he looked rather surprised. Yukari flushed some embarrassed and Hitomi suddenly felt very self-conscious of the whole situation.

"Yukari come on," Hitomi said a half hour later as they were walking home from the school. Yukari walked ahead. "Please nothing was going on."

"Mmm hummm, well that's something pretty big to forget," Yukari was musing. "But I might just keep quiet for say…"

She turned and faced her best friend, "Your deserts for a week, and a slice of cheesecake from that new bakery?"

"Yukari," Hitomi said as Yukari gave her a wide grin.

"Hey, Noriko said they have really good food there."

"Yeah, so I heard," Hitomi was saying. Her thoughts were wavering between the boy on the track and Amano. What was he going to say when Yukari had come in? Hitomi wondered if he liked her too.

"Hey Hitomi, did you tell him yet?" Yukari asked softly and Hitomi looked down.

"No, not yet," she said quietly.

"Well you better hurry," Yukari told her gently.

"Why?" Hitomi glanced up at her best friend as they got to a bridge. Yukari looked down and hugged Hitomi as she spoke.

"Because, I heard the boys' team talking, they were saying that Amano's father got a job in England and he's leaving. He's not even coming to the track meet," Yukari told her. "You have to tell him how you feel Hitomi, or you'll regret it."

Hitomi held her best friend and stared, eyes wide. _Amano's leaving…_

At home that evening Hitomi lay on her bed in a daze. She had had the perfect chance, and blew it.

"Hey Hitomi have you ever done a reading about Amano?" Yukarai's question popped back into Hitomi's head.

"No, I guess I'm scared that it will say that he doesn't like me."

"Hitomi, your bath's ready." Hitomi heard her mother call out from behind her shut door.

"Okay, thanks." Hitomi called back and went over to her tarot deck and picked up her cards. She was surprised when she saw the ace of serpents turned over.

"Huh? Why this one…" she was saying when the wind blew through her window knocking over several cards. She hurried over and shut it, glancing at her desk she saw several cards turned up.

_The three of swords, a card of separation_, she thought picking it up. _It must really mean that Amano is leaving. But why the King of Wands, that usually means someone with a good heart and a clear mind. The Page of swords, could that be Amano? No he's not detached, I don't think._

Hitomi took the cards, shuffled them and laid out a set. She asked them if it was true that Amano was leaving and saw the tower come up at the end. She sighed.

_I have to tell him._ She decided, the next day she would ask him for something important.

* * *

It was late afternoon in Fanelia and Van was sitting on a rock, thinking. He had been nibbling on some of the food and was tired. The colt had bolted on him when it had heard the call of one of the larger dragons, and he didn't blame it. He would have run too, but he was determined. He had to face it. He had to prove to his brother that he could do this.

Gripping his sword he looked into the woods where his Mother had disappeared when he was little. She had wandered in saying she was being called by something. Folken had attempted to stop her, but he was never able to find her. After a year-long search the young King had given up hope of discovering the location of his Mother. Van noticed that after that he had become detached from everyone, including Van for a while, but then one evening he came by the young boy's room.

"Van," Folken had knocked on the ten year-olds door, and then gently pushed it open. Van had been sitting looking at a story book and reading it to Merle as Folken had done for him. The younger boy glanced up at his brother when he walked in and noticed that Folken wasn't dressed in his normal royal robes, in fact he was back in his old green sleeveless shirt and white pants.

"May I come in?"

Van nodded, "Sure."

"What are you two doing?" Folken asked sitting down.

"Lord Van's reading me a story," said a chipper Merle. She climbed into Folken's lap and he chuckled.

"Is he now? Do you think I could stay here and listen too?"

Van looked at him a moment to see if he was being serious as Folken added.

"I'd like to hear a good story."

He smiled in a way that he had not in a year's time, Van returned it and went back to reading.

"Once there was a princess who came from a faraway kingdom where angel's dwelled…"

Van shook his head. What was he doing? This wasn't the time to be thinking of sentimental things. He got up and looked out over the plain and flicked some of his bangs out of his eye.

"I have to do this. Please brother, try to understand," he said aloud.

* * *

At the castle the alarm had been sounded and Folken was standing on a small balcony looking over the court yard below. The wind caught his green blue bangs and he grew stiff feeling someone standing behind him.

"Silent as ever."

The guest bowed, it was the same woman as the night before.

"Anything to report," Folken asked and didn't glance back. He figured if he kept looking ahead somehow Van would come walking through that gate.

"We found his horse." The woman said softly.

"But not him," Folken gripped the edge of the balcony. "Why is it so hard to find one boy?"

"He's probably already in the woods."

"Did _you_ know about this?"

No reply, it made him even tenser and he spat sharply.

"I expect a reply."

The woman looked up at his back, "My Lord, you know how I feel about the boy. He is like a brother to me…"

"But he's my brother!" Folken looked back at her and the woman bent her head down.

"I know this…"

"Did you, or did you not know about him leaving the castle grounds?"

When she did not answer he grew angry and turned his back to her.

"You're dismissed."

"Majesty?" She looked up.

"I don't want to talk to you right now." He said simply and she stood up and turned to leave.

"Wait…" his voice became soft; clearly she could tell he was trying to hold in his fears.

"Yes Lord Folken?" The woman bowed again. Folken did not turn to face her as he spoke.

"Do you think I pushed him to this?"

The woman paused, "Pardon, but what do you mean?"

"I just mean that… Do you think that I've been a bad brother to him? Do I really keep him in a cage as I've heard others say?"

The woman stood still and thought for a long time.

"Your sister, did she ever treat you in a way that made you feel caged in?"

"Yes, at times," the woman said quietly. "But my Lord, given time he will understand these things. Though you do keep him tight on a leash, you have to give him some freedom or he will end up despising you. If you keep him as a child, then how will he ever grown?"

"But he's not mature enough yet to..."

"Weren't you once his age? You've given him an opportunity to be a child, and now he wants to be an adult," She paused. "Sire, I understand the need to protect him. He is your family, but even birds must let their young from the nests to make mistakes."

Folken grew quiet, but nodded.

"See if you can find him before nightfall, if not…I'll know where he has gone."

"Yes Lord Folken." The woman bowed again and hurried from the room on silent footsteps.

* * *

"We'll be seeing you Captain," said one of the track members of the boys' team.

"Yeah," said another, "And you can always email us."

The track team had put together a small group get together to talk to Amano before the next meet. They had planned to go out with him on his last day of classes. He really felt very lucky to have such a wonderful team. Heading out alone onto the track the senior gazed around. He smiled recalling all the team meets he had run.

"How do you do it Amano?" Hitomi's words echoed in his ears. She was an amazing girl. He knew she would do well. Looking up at the stars he sighed, a part of him wanted to stay but he knew his father would never let him. He was about to go when he heard someone running up. Turning he saw Hitomi racing towards him, she was dressed in her track uniform.

"Amano, wait!" she called to him and he smiled.

"Kanzaki?"

Hitomi stopped and caught her breath looking at him, then held bowed suddenly and held out her pendent.

"Please…"

He blinked surprised by her offer. He wasn't sure what she wanted, was she offering him the pendent? No that was stupid, the necklace was extremely important to her and he could never accept such a gift. It seemed wrong. He watched her for a moment as she finally spoke.

"Please…I know you're leaving. But….please…if I can run the dash in eleven seconds, would…"

Her face was reddening as he stared at her curiously. Maybe he would laugh and think of her as a silly girl, but she didn't care, she had to, it was the only way she could tell him.

"Would you please give me my first kiss?"

Amano watched her, partly wondering if she was serious, partly surprised, but he smiled. She was so sweet, so kind and understanding. He cared about her, and, given time he knew he could probably fall in love with her.

Reaching out he took the pendent from her out stretched hand and she stood up.

"I would be honored."

Hitomi looked up and blushed. _Amano…_

Just then the lights of the track came on, and Yukari stood there waving and giving her the thumbs up.

_Yukari…_Hitomi thought, proud and happy to have such a wonderful best friend.

Hitomi took her mark, and tightened her track shoes. Looking up Amano called out.

"Ready?"

"Ready !" she shouted back.

"Set!" he held out the pendent.

She took her mark.

"Go!" he dropped it and it started to swing. Hitomi took off, pushing her feet hard against the markers.

"One, two, three," Amano counted the swings and Hitomi ran hard and fast. At the same time she suddenly started to see the boy again. Once more he was running in the dark night. The stars were clear above him, and he had a look of sheer focus.

_Give it everything I've got…_Hitomi thought as she ran. In that moment a hard lightning flash started up in the sky and Hitomi gasped in shock as a blue lightning bolt hit the ground. Flashes exploded all around her.

_No not again!_ She thought desperately. At the same instant Van found himself suddenly being sucked up off Gaia.

"What…what is this!" He shouted. Before him the dragon was hiding in a dark grove. The light surrounded him and everything seemed to fade. He turned around fast as he saw a solid pink track before him.

_What the devil?_ He thought seeing it and then heard a shout from behind.

"Watch out!"

Van twisted, saw Hitomi and gasped out. They were going to hit, she couldn't stop. She thought for a moment that she could run through him like before and tried to slow some, only this time she hit something solid. The connection was hard enough that Van stumbled back in his armor, and she was thrown back down to the ground. He thought for a second she had hit her head but then she sat up and a girl with red hair rushed over to her side.

"Hitomi…" he heard the young woman say to the girl that had just hit him. She asked her something and the girl replied but it sounded like gibberish to Van.

_What's going on here?_ Van thought desperately. Where was he?

"Are you okay?" Yukari asked Hitomi again. Hitomi nodded and looked at Van.

"It's him."

"Him? Him who?" Yukari asked staring at Van.

"The boy from my dream," Hitomi replied.

"Who are you?" Van asked Hitomi. "What's going on here?! What sort of devilish magic is this?"

"What's he saying Hitomi?" asked Yukari. Hitomi glanced over at her friend.

"You mean you can't understand him?"

The other girl shook her head and Van held the sword ready feeling the dragon growing closer.

"Who are you?" Hitomi asked again as Amano hurried over to the two girls.

"Kanzaki, Uchida, are you two alright? Who is he?"

"I am Van Slanzar de Fanel," Van said to Hitomi. "Where am I?"

Hitomi was just about to answer when Amano stepped forward, "Alright you, calm down."

Van knocked him aside, "Go get out of here girl! The dragon's coming."

"Dra..Dragon?" Hitomi asked. Amano looked annoyed. Just who did this boy think he was?

"Kanzaki what is he…"

Amano was cut short by a sudden distortion on the track. Hitomi and Yukari gasped seeing a huge grove of grass and trees. The trees bent in an odd shape looking very much like cave. Van held himself ready.

"Come on you beast. Come and eat me."

* * *

"Lord Folken," one of the samurai guards hurried up to the young King's chamber. He bowed as Folken stood up.

"Have you found my brother?" Folken looked at him hopefully but the young man shook his head.

"No sir, but Balgus asks that you come outside quickly. Something's happening."

Folken looked perturbed, but followed the young guard out to one of the higher watch towers. He gazed over the sky and saw the lightning storm. Ever since they were children Folken and Van had had a connection of sorts. They didn't understand it, but no matter where one was the other could always feel the first ones presence. As children Folken was always able to find Van no matter how far he had wandered off, and could sense when the younger boy was in danger. It was because of this feeling that the older boy had been able to let the younger wander freely in the castle. Folken knew his brother was okay because he had always felt that he wasn't too far. Now though something was going amiss.

He clenched his fingers till the knuckles became white. Van was terrified, something was happening to him. He was shouting for help. A surge or fear ran through the younger Fanel and then Folken felt nothing as a blue shaft of light struck the ground.

"VAN!" Folken screamed out. But he was gone, and Folken felt his knees buckle as he stood by the watch tower. His little brother had disappeared, just as he was warned years ago.

_Note: A turning point, a severing of links with the past, which have become outdated. A turning away from established relationships and objects of affection, to facilitate progress to newer and deeper things. A change of perspective a change of viewpoint. Security and attachment._


	4. Chapter 4: Scales, Fire, and Light

Escaflowne: Twisted Fate

**AN: Vision of Escaflowne is owned by Bandai visual entertainment, Sunrise Studios, and Fox. To those who have given me reviews on this. Thank you so much. I'm really glad you like the story.**

_Chapter 4: Scales, Fire, and Light (The Hanged Man)_

From where she was standing Hitomi looked on with terror. The grove shook as something huge and deadly lumbered forward. A pair of bright yellow eyes glittered out of the intense darkness of the strange naturally made cavern. The young man stood ready, his brow narrowed in serious concentration, his jaw clenched. Sweat beaded on his forehead and he was breathing slowly, trying to stay calm.

"Come on Beast! Come and eat me. I'm your dinner tonight."

"Are you crazy?!" Hitomi was about to shout when the creature, whose eyes they had been peering at, finally emerged. It looked like a cross between some sort of lizard and a frog. The body was a dark green with stripes down the back, and its tongue licked the air to smell. Beside Hitomi, Yukari gave a shudder.

"What..what is that …that thing?"

"I don't know, but I don't think we should be staying." Amano was saying when the beast roared.

Van gritted his teeth as the dragon watched him. Its twin lung sacks grew heated and large as it drew in air. Then suddenly it let out a burst of bright, hot flames. Van only had enough time to release his shield before the flames hit him.

Hitomi gasped out and watched with horror as he re-collapsed the shield and pulled out a cross bow. The arrow flew at such a speed Hitomi didn't even register that it had been released until it hit the dragon in the eye. Green blood sprayed out and Amano pushed her and Yukari back.

"Run! Get out of here now!" Van called to them. The dragon glanced over at the trio and Van shouted to it to distract it, but the beast wasn't looking for hard prey to catch. It saw an easy meal in the three humans that stood before it.

"No need to tell us again!" Hitomi shouted as she shoved Yukari.

"Hurry," Amano said as the trio dashed away.

Van threw out his arms. "Here…over here ugly! Come on, I'm your prey tonight not them! Look over here! That's right…come on you ugly dra…"

His words were cut short when the tail of the beast lashed out at him and smashed into his chest. It sent Van flying and rolling over the track. Hitomi and Yukari both screamed. Amano wasn't sure if he was breathing or not, and a part of him wanted to rush over and help, but he knew he couldn't leave the girls alone. Not with a monster running loose.

Van pushed himself up, and coughed up blood. "Oh no you don't…I'm not done with you yet!"

Grabbing the sword Van dashed at the dragon crying out as he slashed the scales. The cut did nothing accept annoy the dragon who turned his attention to the young prince. Taking the given opportunity Amano led the two girls away from the track and down towards the gates.

"This way, we'll be safer away from here."

Yukari followed last, the slowest of the runners and tripped. She yelped and Hitomi hurried back to her. Hearing the roars of the dragon Amano kept his eyes on the gates.

"Yukari…" Hitomi asked her friend who winced.

"I think I sprained my ankle."

It was then that they heard the loud pounding footsteps of the dragon coming for the gate and Amano crouched down.

"Here get on my back."

"Right," Yukari said and held tight as Amano hefted her and started to run side by side with Hitomi. They could hear the crashing noise of the dragon behind them and Hitomi was sure that the boy was in trouble.

Van dodged another flame attack and slashed at the dragon again and again.

_Why can't I dent your hide!_ He grew annoyed with it and the beast slammed its tail back against him. Van got up again calling to the dragon but it had seen where the other three had run.

_Damn_, he thought and chased after the dragon. Unbuckling a strap on his arm guard a pair of claws sprung out and Van used them to latch onto the dragon's hide.

"You won't get away from me that easily!"

At the same time Amano and Hitomi had made it to the steps of the shrine near the high school. The two raced up the steps urging the other along. Hitomi wondered just what was going on. This whole thing was just crazy, and Yukari was hurt because of it.

Nearing the top the duo didn't look back behind them. They really didn't want to. The dragon roared as it jumped onto the tops of the shrine gates and used them as steps. Then as the gates ended, the dragon spread its skin under its arms, allowing the beast to glide up over the remaining steps to the top.

Amano and Hitomi ran quickly to the shrine entrance, pausing only to catch their breaths.

"We should be safe here." Amano was saying when they heard the dragon again and Yukari shook.

"Safe? Yeah right! That thing is going to eat us! We can't outrun a dragon."

Amano growled, "I won't let anything happen to either of you!"

Hitomi felt her heart flutter, but then the terror came back as she heard the dragon crash up the temple gates.

"It's coming."

"Quick up here!" Amano told her and Hitomi followed him up into the temple doorway. Amano had judged by its size that the dragon wasn't going to fit into the temple doorway. Though he was worried more about the flames, and how far they would spread when the beast opened its mouth. He was also worried what had become of the boy that had come with the Dragon? Had he already been killed? Amano hoped not, he may have been a bit of a jerk, but the young man was willing to put himself at risk to allow them to get away. That had to count for something, and it did in Amano's opinion.

When Hitomi reached the top, Amano set down Yukari who was able to stand, holding onto the side of the archway. The trio watched in shock as the dragon landed on the ground before the temple. Just as it did the boy from before leapt off the beast and landed before it, sword drawn. The dragon roared and again sent flames at the boy.

Van covered himself and went after the dragon again. He chopped and sliced at the scales, but was still unable to pierce the beast's hide. And, he was running out of time.

"Damn it. Why won't it cut!" he dodged another blow. He moved back and stood watching the beast with an expression of annoyance.

Above Hitomi was watching with worry and fear. Amano touched her shoulder and asked.

"Do you think he'll be able to stop it?"

Hitomi blinked, her eyes going wide. As she watched everything started to glow with strange colors. The boy was standing just as he was now, only the tail of the dragon was up and its sharp spear like bone on the end came down in one giant thrust. The tail end went through the boy as he gasped with surprise. Blood poured from his wound and he lay very still.

"No…" she whispered. "He's…He's going to die."

Hitomi couldn't let it happen; it was just too cruel a fate. She ran down the steps holding her duffle bag and called out.

"Look out, above you!"

Van looked behind, then up, "Huh?"

Just then the dragon attacked, and Hitomi screamed covering her eyes. Instantly the image came to pass just not as Hitomi had seen it. The dragon's tail arched up and came down with one swift, fluid motion, cutting into Van's armor. The whole thing fell apart and he was left in his arm guards and leg guards. The dragon's tail had pierced the ground instead and was stuck there.

"Now I have you." Van shouted and ran up the beast's body. Jumping back down the other side he slashed it open via the weak underbelly. Green blood splashed everywhere as if coming out of an erupting volcano. The Dragon bellowed as it threw its head back, and ripped the spike from the ground. Van ran around to the front, and rammed his sword into the belly of the beast. The Dragon howled with pain, as Van cut open its chest. More blood spilled out onto him as Van moved back and saw the creature fall over dead. It's tongue hanging out.

Hitomi dared to uncover her eyes. She stared at the beast and remembered something she thought she had long forgotten. In her memory there was a grassy grove, and a young man, not much older than the boy before her, only the one she recalled had greenish hair. He was soaked like this boy was, but he was also cut on the arm. Hitomi watched silently as Van walked over to the dead dragon. Taking up his sword he cut open the area that was in the center of the dragon's chest. He then cut a small clear gray sack open and pried it apart. Hitomi saw him pull from inside a large pink stone. It was about the size of a softball, maybe a little bigger.

She remembered the other boy doing the same thing, but then shook her head and wandered over to Van. He was standing there watching as the dragon dissolved into strange ash that floated up into the sky. The blood on his person did the same, and he looked down at the pink stone he held. A smile came over his face.

"I did it, I got an energist."

"Um, excuse me…"Hitomi was saying coming closer. Van looked over and sniffed at her.

"Oh it's you. Well, I guess you'll want a reward for helping me. After all you did save my life."

"Reward?" Hitomi asked in disbelief. What was he saying; she didn't come over to ask for a reward. Her face grew hot as she listened to him.

"Fine then, you can come to my castle. But do remember, I did slay the dragon."

The sound of the slap echoed up to Amano and Yukari who watched with shock as Hitomi yelled.

"I don't want a reward, you pig headed jerk! I didn't save you because I wanted a reward. I did it because I thought you were going to die, and I was really really scared. I…I should have just let that dragon eat you!"

She felt the tears run down her face and Van looked at her sadly, feeling bad at what he had said.

_Nice going Van_, he thought and rubbed his neck. _Way to go there. The girl just wanted to keep you safe, and here you go acting like a jerk, really smooth._

He was about to say something when he noticed the energist starting to glow.

"The…the energist…" Van said softly and Hitomi looked up.

"Huh?"

She saw it too and was surprised to see it turn from pink to a bright, brilliant white color. As suddenly as the energist lit up there came a white light that penetrated the dark sky cutting through the clouds that had gathered from the arrival of the boy and the dragon. The giant shaft ripped through the night sky once more, landing squarely upon Van and Hitomi.

"What…not again…" Van shouted as he felt himself being pulled upwards. He stared at the ground as he was yanked from it. The odd rushing sensation bothered him some as it was something rather uncomfortable. He glanced about seeing if anything was wrong, but then noticed the girl floating up with him. Her face was twisted into shock and fear.

"What's…what's happening?"

"I don't know," Van cried as they were lifted up higher. "This light brought me here!"

"Kanzaki!" Amano ran down the steps and she cried out to him as he ran into the light. Yet it didn't pull him up.

"Amano! Your hand!" Hitomi called out reaching for him.

"Kanzaki, quick grab it!" He reached to her, their fingers almost touching. Then she felt something cold touch the tips and realized she had only grabbed her pendent.

"Amano!"

Hitomi found herself screaming and watching as the light grew smaller and smaller and she floated farther and farther away from her friends. Hitomi screamed as she felt herself suddenly flying. Van glanced down at her and reached out.

"Here," he gripped her wrist and she looked up at him with surprise.

"I don't know where this is taking us, and I don't want to suddenly have you landing up somewhere else. So just hold onto to my arm."

Hitomi nodded and gripped her hand around his wrist as they were sucked even farther into the light

* * *

In the quiet of his room Folken was sifting through various books, trying to find out what that light was. Beside him two cat women were also deep in reading, though the younger of the two, seemed more preoccupied in watching the King. Her gold hair brushed against her bare shoulder. She wondered what would happen if she just reached over and stroked the young King's face.

Naturally she reached out, and her silver haired twin slapped the book shut on her other hand.

"Ow!" shouted the golden haired minx. She rubbed her paw. "Sister, what did you do that for?"

"We're supposed to be helping King Folken, Eriya," the silver haired one reminded her. Eriya snorted some but went back to reading.

"I don't see the point in this. We've poured over almost all these books."

"Then we'll just have to pour over them again," Folken told her and looked up. Fire was in his brown eyes and he scowled, "Unless you intend to leave me and your sister alone to do this work, Eriya."

Eriya glanced at her older sister who smiled some in a teasing way.

"Naria don't even," she said and went back to reading.

The older twin chuckled and glanced up at Folken.

"Lord Folken what of the others?"

He paused, "What about them?"

"Well what are you having them do?"

Folken flipped to another page in his book and kept his eyes down.

"They're scouting the forest. I told them to let the wolf packs know. Ruhm's men have a better chance of picking up Van's scent. They travel through there all the time."

Naria nodded and pushed back some of her silver hair.

"And what about the samurais…?"

"What about them?" He asked cautiously knowing whom she was referring to, but not letting on.

"Well what are they doing?"

Folken sighed, "As I asked them too, searching. They know to report to me directly if anything happens. Balgus has them doing a sweep with the guymelfs."

Naria nodded, somehow though that wasn't satisfying to her.

_He lets her get away with everything._

* * *

Farther out away from the castle the golden hawk and its master stood on the edge of the high cliffs that acted as a guide into the canyon passage. The woman stared into the distance and petted her pet.

"You know what to do Atherios."

The hawk let out a screech and flapped up into the air soaring high overhead. It flew off into the distance. The woman closed her eyes, and then suddenly opened them. She could see trees of the forest, the deep green leaves in the night as droplets formed on their edges. Wild life stirred as strange deer like mounts ran wild avoiding predators. The tiniest detail was magnified ten times in her sight; even so she had to clench her fists. Allowing for such a sight normally made her sick, but for finding the young prince she would endure the nausea that swept through her body.

_So where are you Prince? _The hawk's master wondered as Atherios flew high over the tops of the canopy of trees. He dove down through an opening and maneuvered swiftly around out laying branches that tried to limit his mobility. Small squirrel like animals distracted him at times, and his master had to snap her head to the side to remind him of their connection and to finish his job. The hawk was young and still tended to be playful, even when working.

As he flew upwards again a he flapped and screeched seeing a blazing white light explode from the sky and slam into the ground. His master shielded her eyes and broke the connection by wrenching her head back and then blinked hard. She could see the light even at the distance she was at.

"What…Is that the same…" she muttered watching it hit the ground.

* * *

At the castle Folken reading over another page, Naria had finally given up and, along with the already sleeping Eriya, was resting her head in her arms. She looked up when she heard Folken shift some to sit up.

"Lord Folken?" she asked and Folken seemed to be staring out at nothing in a daze. In his mind he saw Van and someone else with him. Both were carried down to the ground by a strange white light that seemed to be gentle in how it had let them land. When the light retreated he saw a fast glimpse of a girl's face before the whole image winked out as if someone had turned a light out leaving him in the dark.

Folken gripped the edge of the table and looked haunted. "It can't be…"

"Can't be…"

Folken looked over at the twins, Eriya was rubbing her eyes, "Huh? What's going on?"

"Van's returned." Folken told them and both girls looked rather happy. As much as they nagged at and taunted the young prince they liked him, he had always been kind to them. Folken stood up and turned to leave.

"Sire?" asked Eriya. "What would you like us to do?"

"Tell Balgus to call off the search, I'm sure Ruhm will probably find him first."

Naria and Eriya bowed low and then both slipped gracefully from the room. Alone with his thoughts Folken closed his eyes and covered them with his fingers. His worries and fears got the best of him, and he shuddered some as tears slipped down his face. He'd been worried sick that Van had been killed in the woods. Memories of his last encounter with a dragon lingered in his mind. His mother, bathed in her own blood as she vanished from his sight, and a young blonde woman pulling him away from the scene.

He gritted his teeth. Why was it that those he wanted most to protect were always the ones to be hurt? He pulled his hand away and looked up at the window as moon light that filtered into the study.

_Sora..._

* * *

Van groaned as he stood up. The girl was still sleeping, her head resting on the ground and he smiled. At least she wasn't hurt, that made him feel better. He looked down at the energist, which sparkled in his hand. He had done it. He had gotten an energist.

"I actually pulled it off." Van was saying when Hitomi woke up and was looking around.

"Huh…where, where are we?"

Van turned to face her, he had his hand on his hip. "So you're awake, girl."

"My name is not girl," Hitomi said. "It's Hitomi Kanzaki, and where are we?"

Van looked around trying to get his bearings. They stood in a grove just beyond the forest. He could hear the sounds of animals shuffling about looking for their dinner. He moved back wondering if the creatures would catch their sent and come out for an easy meal.

"From the looks of things, just south of the Forest of Fanelia," Van watched as she got up.

"Fanelia?" Hitomi asked and looked around. This place seemed almost normal but when she looked up she gasped. In the dark starry sky hung the moon in all its glory, but behind it, looming large and just as bright, was the Earth.

"Is…is that the earth?" Hitomi asked. Van looked at her puzzled.

"The Earth…?"

A rustle startled him, and Van looked out before him into the brush. Howls of wolves sprang up as glowing eyes illuminated shadowy figures. Hitomi moved back behind him, scared. Van gazed out at the shadows and his eyes narrowed focusing on a figure way in the back. For a second the glowing eyed beast man just stared at him, then a look of recognition came over his face and he grinned.

"Well I'll be. I guess tonight's my lucky night. What a catch we found, should be worth a nice price in Fanelia." Ruhm said and chuckled

* * *

Far from the bright night of Fanelia, a fortress floated silently in the sky, casting a foreboding shadow over the ground. Claw like stalactites hung from the bottom of the fortress and the top spiked to a high turret. As it moved silently over the grassy plains the lights inside winked on and off imitating the stars that surrounded the black floating giant.

At the top a woman with long blond hair sat in a chair. Her face was pale and elegant, almost gentle, belying the calculating mind that was hidden behind her haunted light green eyes. Her long fingers were resting on the edge of the arms of the chair, and her head was propped up to look at the moon. When the light flashed her eyes wavered just for a moment and then went back to their normal distant appearance.

The black cloak moved ever so slightly as she shifted betraying the fact that she had been surprised by it. The woman closed her eyes and smiled.

"So she's come? I wonder Folken, how well will you use your queen now that she's here? After all, our game is just beginning."

_Note: Devotion to a worthwhile cause. Temporary suspension of progress. Flexibility of mind and a willingness to adapt to changes. Sacrifice in the present to reap benefit in the future. A waiting period. Rebirth. Sacrificing one thing to obtain another. Transformation. Circumstances literally turned on their head._


	5. Chapter 5: The Verdant Crown of the East

Escaflowne: Twisted Fate

**AN: Thank you all for the reviews and you'll learn soon enough who the hawk master is. Vision of Escaflowne is owned by Bandai Entertainment, Sunrise Animation, and Fox Entertainment. Sorry for so late an update, my computer's been nothing but troubles for me.**

_Chapter 5: The Verdant Crown of the East (Ten of Cups)_

"Well I'll be. I guess tonight's my lucky night. What a catch we found, should be worth a nice price in Fanelia." Ruhm said and chuckled. Hitomi stared at the strange wolf man as he walked up to them. He smiled at Van. "So where have you been?"

"That's none of your concern Ruhm, but I am glad to see you," the young prince said cheerfully.

"Well it's a good thing I was the one to find you," Ruhm smirked, "Wouldn't be right if some bandits managed to track you down. And who is this young lady?"

"Just some girl I picked up." Van said as the wolf men brought over the cart. Hitomi pulled out her track jacket and put it on. The air was cooler then she expected, but it was also so clear that she could make out every single star, some she had never seen before in her life. The light pollution in Kamakura obscured all but the brightest stars, so it was a nice change to see them all.

Ruhm helped her up and Van followed, he sat next to her, leaning on the hay getting settled. As they road Van told Ruhm about his adventure and Hitomi stayed quiet. She listened and only asked once what the name of the world was. Ruhm laughed, "It's called Gaea."

"Gaea?" Hitomi asked and he nodded before turning back to Van who went on to talk about the energist. He gave details about meeting Hitomi and ended quickly.

"Then the light came and we wound up where you found us."

"Well well isn't that something," Ruhm nodded as he listened, letting out a whistle when Van was finished. Hitomi glanced over at the wolf men walking beside them. In their hands were whirling, whistling fan like sticks. She stared at them in wonder as Ruhm smiled and chuckled.

"They're to keep the animals away. They make a really nasty sound to high hearing animals, like the dragons and the bigger cats in the woods."

Hitomi nodded, "That makes sense. Back home we have whistles for dogs and such that let people call them."

Ruhm laughed, "Well, well, that is something. Just don't use that on me, okay. What's your name by the way?"

"Hitomi Kanzaki."

"Hitomi has a really fine ring to it." Ruhm grinned with his teeth. Oddly enough Hitomi found the smile friendly rather than scary. "So you're from the Mystic Moon, huh?"

"Yeah that would be right." Van eyes closed as he put his hands behind his head. "She kinda followed me."

"I did not," Hitomi retorted and looked at Ruhm. "Um, excuse me, but the Mystic moon?"

Ruhm looked up. "See that up there, the blue one. That is the Mystic moon. It's been oddly bright these past few nights. It's where Van Fanel brought you from."

Hitomi looked up and blinked, "That's…that's the Mystic moon?"

_It's Earth_, she thought to herself as they traveled along the road towards a pair of cliffs. The moon light was still bright as a land Dragon swept over head. Hitomi was in a daze and still trying to get a handle on where she truly was. It was then, in that moment between waking and dreaming that her vision reappeared. A strange feeling swept over her as the whole thing played in black and white, almost like she was watching a documentary of an event that happened long ago.

A city made of wood that was enshrouded by smoke. The feeling of heat burning things around her, and then she saw them again. The large robotic monsters that were hidden from view by glass veils, a strange twisting rod came out from the veil and looked about with a glowing orb that appeared to be an eye. A flash of steel appeared before her as the cannon like arm appeared with several metal spikes that glinted in the darkness which surrounded it.

The scene quickly shifted before her eyes as she saw men garbed in samurai like armor standing in the center of the city, spears raised ready to attack whatever the hidden monster was. But they could not see it. Then, the arm attacked, from above, and struck the knights in the chests, spraying blood everywhere as it pierced through them.

Hitomi woke up with a gasp, and Van glanced over at her. She was an odd one, this girl. Her face was sweaty; her eyes seemed to have grown smaller. He scowled some but his voice was oddly kind. For the moment she reminded him of Folken when he was recalling something he didn't like to think about.

"Hey, is something wrong?"

Hitomi looked at him and gripped her fists on her thighs. Shaking her head she tried to remain calm, after all it was just a bad dream. She was scared that's why the dream had appeared. It was just her fear and worry that had caused the vision to appear before her. Nothing bad was going to happen.

"No, it's nothing." She said quietly. Van nodded and laid back.

"Well if it's nothing, then I'm going to rest okay?"

Hitomi nodded, "Okay."

Van let out a sigh. Why were girls so weird? Even Naria and Eriya were strange at times, and Van had grown up around them. He was resting in the hay of the cart as Ruhm and his clan kept vigil, watching for anything that might dare to try to harm the two young riders.

Ruhm looked back at Hitomi as she glanced around.

"Are you certain you're alright, Miss Hitomi?"

Hitomi smiled some and nodded, "Yeah, it's just. It feels like some sort of weird dream. Like I'll wake up and find I've just passed out on the track or something. But I haven't, have I?"

Ruhm shrugged, "One man's dream to another maybe reality and vice versa."

"I see," she said softly and looked up at the earth. "It's really bright, isn't it?"

Ruhm nodded and smiled, "Yes, but it's been brighter than usual now that you mention it."

The sun was finally coming up and warmed her and Hitomi got a good view of the green valley they were traveling through. The place reminded her of paintings in her old books of fairy tales. White walls of stone created a huge wall to the outside world. Hitomi was amazed by these; she'd never seen anything like it before. Everything seemed so pristine, so clear and new. As if nothing bad had ever touched it, like a utopia. But she knew that such a place could never truly exist. Even so she was enjoying the silence of her ride. The place felt, familiar to her, as if she was revisiting some happy dream.

She stared up at the cliffs as they passed by and blinked for a second seeing a shadow of a figure high atop. Hitomi wasn't sure if she was imagining it or not, but when she blinked again, it appeared to have vanished.

"Ruhm…can anyone get up there?" she asked him and he laughed.

"Well most people don't try; there are a few that know how to scale it though. Why?"

"I thought…I thought I just saw someone up there." She explained looking kind of sheepish. What if he thought she was weird?

Ruhm looked back at the cliffs and narrowed his eyes for a moment then grinned, "Well whoever was up there is gone now."

They had gone about half a mile away from the cliffs when a screeching noise took Ruhm's attention and he ducked his head as the golden hawk flew down at them. Hitomi yelped, but the hawk only made for Van who sat up and waved his arms. The yak creature that drove the cart seemed undisturbed by the action happening above it. Instead it just lolled it's head and let out a snort as it slowed and stopped for its driver.

"Hey, get off me you dumb bird!"

The hawk squawked more as some of the wolf men came to shoo it away, but the bird just reached its mouth down and picked up a small empty cloth from Van's pocket. With the cloth in beak the hawk soared away, and Van sat up looking rather annoyed.

"Damn that bird. Always annoying me like that."

"You know that hawk?" Hitomi asked surprised. Van nodded.

"Yes, and to be blunt, its master is just as annoying as it is."

Ruhm chuckled some, and Van gave him a slightly dirty look from behind. Hitomi sighed as Van pulled out some food that one of the wolf men handed to him. He broke the bread in half and gave it to her along with some fruit.

"What is this?" she asked looking at the food, it looked very much like strawberries from back home, but smaller and more delicate.

"Breakfast," Van said and ate. "You're not hungry?"

"No I just…" she was saying and he blinked.

"If you're worried that you'll get sick, don't, it's just rudberries and bread."

"Rudberries?" she asked picking one up. Ruhm nodded.

"Yes, they get their name from the ruddy color, and the slightly sour taste of their juice."

Hitomi bit one and blinked. As Ruhm had explained it was a bit sour, but tasty, so she ate in silence with Van. An hour or so later they arrived on a hill looking over a great city. From afar Hitomi could see the stone gate with the large wooden door, a maze like metropolis of wooden buildings could be seen all the way to the end of the valley. Rows of houses were lined in such a way that they made a beeline for what was clearly the center of the city, way in the far back, and the strange stone like castle. Hitomi at once took in the sight and thought of the meji era of Japan, but the castle made her think of history books where she had seen pictures of temples in South America that rose high like pyramids. It truly was an awe inspiring sight.

Ruhm smiled at her as he spoke, "Look, below us is Fanelia little lady. Isn't it a wonderful sight?"

Hitomi nodded in agreement as Van looked rather tired and a bit worried. After all he knew he was going to have to face his brother now. No doubt that Atherios had been sent to confirm that it was him. He leaned back gazing down at his kingdom and wondered just what his brother would think of him. The bad news was that he'd run away and vanished to a different world, the good news was he at least had slayed the dragon, and had the energist with him. That had to be worth something to Folken, or at least he hoped it would.

In the city the word spread quickly that Van was back. People shouted and cheered, after all it became no secret that the young prince had gone missing. Men, women, and children raced to greet their young and beloved prince.

* * *

At the castle Folken watched the people scurry like small insects to the gates to greet the boy they considered their favorite son. He breathed a sigh of relief sensing his brother again. Folken leaned on the side of his balcony to watch his citizens as they raced along the streets. He was happy, happy that they were happy to see his brother home safe. A smile crept onto to his face, making him seem a tad younger then he was. Behind him the hawk's master was kneeling and bowing to her king.

"Sire." She said awaiting his orders. Atherios was perched on her shoulder, ever the good pet, when he wanted to be. Folken's shoulders fell slightly, relaxing as he fingered the cloth.

"Thank you," he said to her very softly.

The woman smiled quietly but did not look up at him and stayed silent until he spoke again.

"Is he well?"

"Yes, as far as I can tell he is." She paused, "It appears that, he's lost the armor, but his limbs are intact."

"Good to know," Folken stated and glanced back. "But there's more to it than that. Isn't there?"

She seemed to debate informing him but then nodded. "Yes. Apparently he's brought something with him."

Folken turned around and faced her, "Brought something? Like what?"

The woman took a breath and looked up, "A girl, Sire. A young woman, of about Lord Van's age, has apparently traveled with him back. We're not sure how this happened…"

"I'll look into it," he nodded his head. "You are dismissed."

She bowed her head and rose up. She stood there looking out over the city.

"It's quiet lovely from up here, my king."

He nodded slowly, "It's beautiful this morning."

She smiled, "Yes. It truly is."

With that the woman headed out of the room leaving the young king alone. Folken gazed at the cloth and smiled.

_Thank you, for being quick enough to think to give him this. _He smiled watching as the gates were opened. At the distance they seemed so small, but soon enough, he would have his brother back, safe and sound.

* * *

Walking down the stairs the woman stopped when she saw the twin sisters leaning against the walls, and staring at her. They were not angry looks, more the sort given to a child when they play with another's toy when they're not given permission to.

"May I help you?" the woman asked and Naria nodded, while Eriya crossed her arms.

"Don't look so smug."

"We'd have done the same thing you know," said Eriya. The woman stroked Atherios on the neck.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Oh please, as if." Naria snorted and Eriya flexed her claws some.

"You knew that the prince was going to leave. They found his horse and brought it back. You were out there on duty last night. You had to have given him that bundle."

"And if I did? What exactly is wrong with that?" the woman asked, pretending to be perplexed. This dance happened every time Lord Folken showed her some favor. She knew though that he cared for both her and the twins equally. It was the Angel that he loved. She mentally scowled. The Angel, how could he still think of her as such, she had to wonder? She was gone, and they were here. But he would never chose, that much she was certain. The twins were younger though, filled with optimistic hopes.

"Nothing, if you weren't trying to prove something." snapped Eryia.

"Trying to prove something?"

"That you're better than us," Eriya hissed and the woman snorted.

"That wasn't the case and you know it. So does Lord Folken," the woman stated and stared at both women, she sighed.

"I'm not something to worry about, he'd never glance at me in that way, so please, don't bother being jealous. I'm simply here to protect and sever him as I ever was. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to go, before Prince Van comes."

Naria paused, even though her sister seemed less convinced, and nodded. "Alright, but why are you running away from seeing Van?"

The woman smiled as she passed them, "Because, when he gets back, after his brother hugs him, he's going to ground him, and then I'm going to get it from both him and Balgus. Van for telling his brother and Balgus for letting him go in the first place."

She smiled some as she recited, "A samurai's job is to protect those in the city, and those of the royal family. That is your first duty as a Samurai of Fanelia."

Naria smiled, "Well glad to see you have your duty memorized."

"Yes but that doesn't mean I won't bend the rules to suit my better judgment of a situation." The woman said before waving and leaving down the stairs.

* * *

Far away by the city gates Hitomi sat amazed by the hundreds of hundreds of people that were rushing over to greet them. Van seemed nonplussed as he leaned back on a green blanket and looked at the people. Most were cheering shouting his name and he had to smile.

_At least they're happy to see me. Brother on the other hand…_

Hitomi gazed out at the crowd. She wondered why they had come to greet them. Singing could be heard and her eyes were drawn to the castle. Her heart raced, the excitement of the crowd was growing on her as well. When Ruhm stopped the cart, Van leapt off landing on his feet, much like a runner at the start of a race. He stood as the people were happily chattering and waving, then everything grew silent. Hitomi could feel something coming; she just didn't know what yet.

"Lord Van!" a shout rang out as the crowd seemed to part as if pushed by an invisible force. "Lord Van!"

The voice sounded high, and sharp. It reminded Hitomi a bit of a cat. A second voice, older and more mature, and slightly graveled called out.

"Get back here you!" Then a second chimed in.

"You stupid kitten, can't you for once behave?"

The front row parted suddenly as a girl with orange fur, black stripes, and pink hair rushed out throwing herself at Van. He'd been looking around for the owner of the voice and caught the girl when she came out. Hitomi looked down at her. The girl was short, in a yellow dress, with an unmistakable tail and black cat ears. She stared, startled by the girl's apperence, Van on the other hand was delighted to see her, mostly.

"Merle!"

"I was so worried about you Lord Van," she told him. "I'm so glad you made it back, everyone was wondering what had happened."

He smiled at her then looked surprised when she started to lick him. He blushed some and held her back.

"Hey cut it out. People are watching."

"I'm just so happy to see you."

_And I only thought cat girls existed in cartoons, what sort of place is this?_ Hitomi thought watching the two of them.

The shock didn't end there though, for two more female felines rushed out. These two had leopard skin; one was lighter than the other, black ears, and matching tails. Both wore matching outfits: white tight body suits that covered their necks but exposed their strong shoulders. However there were variations to the two, which seemed to be mirror opposites. The one with the silver hair and lighter skin had only her right arm fully covered while the left was exposed and a short glove covered her hand. Her left leg was showing from under the long slit in the skirt that she wore, and a long thigh high boot covered most of it. Her right leg though was in a skin tight pant leg that went to the short white boot on her foot. The other woman with the gold hair had a short sleeve down to her elbow on her right arm and a short glove like her twin. Her left arm was covered, while she wore a pair of thigh length shorts under her skirt, she wore only a short ankle boot on her right leg, while her left had a longer knee high boot that had ribbons attaching the shorts to the top of the boot.

Both cat women were glaring somewhat at the pink haired girl. The one with silver hair spoke first. "Merle, just what were you thinking jumping on him like that? And licking him of all things?!"

"I…I was just happy to see him." Merle said looking at the cat woman who sighed.

"She's as bad as you are Eriya."

"Me!" the gold haired woman exclaimed looking rather annoyed. "I never acted like that…and you know it Naria."

"Don't get me started. Do you want me to list them for you, sister dear," Naria asked as Eriya snorted.

"First a wolf man, now a group of cat girls," Hitomi muttered and Ruhm laughed.

"You don't have such creatures in your world?"

"No…No, I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you," Hitomi blushed lightly. He smiled as she shook her head, "Not really, only in books and movies and such."

"Movies?" he inquired and she rubbed her head.

"Um…sort of like a play I guess but it's shown to many people in different places all at the same time."

"Sounds confusing, but interesting," He laughed and then glanced down at Eriya and grinned.

"And what's this about you licking someone, Lady Eriya."

The gold haired cat woman glanced up and Ruhm and sniffed, "That is none of your business."

"Your sister said it first, call me curious."

"Well, be curious all you want, I'm not talking about it," she said and he smiled at her. Eriya turned away fast. Ruhm always teased her and at times she didn't mind it, but at others, such as this when she was trying to be adult like her sister, she disliked it.

"As you wish, someday you'll maybe tell me that story."

"Maybe," she concurred and glanced up at Hitomi. "And who's this?"

Naria paused from her scolding of Merle, who was hiding behind Van, and glanced up for the first time at Hitomi.

"A friend of Lord Van's," Ruhm smirked arms crossed, "His guest."

"Guest!" both women said at once and eyed her carefully.

"Where's she from?" Naria asked.

"Why is she dressed so weird?" Eriya wrinkled her nose and Hitomi sniffed some.

_She's one to talk. Dressed like that_, the young track runner thought and felt several eyes from the spectators glance at her, along with Merle's. She thought she was going to have to answer, but was saved when the crowd became quiet again. Four men stepped forward, all in armor exactly like that of a samurai. Each man looked very mature, the eldest, Hitomi gathered, was the man with white hair in the orange armor. On his chest was a black and white diamond with small yellow markings around it. His hair was slicked back and neat, as was his trimmed white beard and mustache. To that man's far right was a tall knight, Hitomi assumed, dressed in green armor. He wore his brown hair long and his mustache past his chin. He seemed to be the youngest of the four, though nowhere near as excitable as the short knight that stood beside him on his left.

This man was dressed in red, with a skull of a beast painted on his breast plate. Hitomi could only guess from the shape that it was supposed to be that of a dragon. His black hair was slightly spiked and short, like his comrades he wore a mustache, but his beard was only upon his chin like some sort of patch. The hair made him seem bulkier, but he had a twinkle in his eyes. Standing to the knight in orange's right was a man that Hitomi could only guess was their leader. He had iron gray hair, which was a bit unruly and long, and receding at the top of his head. Hitomi swallowed looking at his face. The man's left eye was completely closed due to a huge scar over it. The right also had a scar, this one not as large, but equally frightening as it extended just under his eye and down to the gray mustache that he wore. The man, Hitomi noted, had soft eyes. His uniform was dark and light gray, and there were two red medallion-like gems that held his breast plate in place.

The men looked at Van as the crowed bowed in reverence to them. If the men noticed this they made no action to indicate it. The two cat women followed suit, and the one with silver hair motioned to the cat girl named Merle who quickly let go of Van and moved aside. Naria sighed and muttered very quietly, "She's such a kitten."

"But you wouldn't have her grow up too fast, eh Sister?" Eriya intoned quietly and smiled. Naria closed her eyes, tried to be serious, but joined in the smile with her sister.

"Shush."

Hitomi looked to Ruhm, "Who are they?"

He smiled, "The four Brigadier Generals of the Samurai of Fanelia."

"Samurai?" Hitomi asked and Ruhm nodded. "We have that word on Ear…I mean the Mystic Moon. It's used for the warriors from my country."

"Is that so," Ruhm mused in a low voice, "Interesting..."

He noticed her staring at them and motioned with his head as he spoke, "The man in green is Luva; he's the youngest of the Generals and the head of the Tusk army. The one next to him, in the red armor with the dragon skull, is Asona, he's considered the most cheerful of the Generals, and he's head of the Horn army. Yurizen, the General in orange with the diamond on his plate, with the white hair, is the eldest of the four Generals and he handles the Claw army."

"And the man in gray, the one with the scars on his face?" she asked Rum grinned some and whispered.

"That's Balgus Ganesha, he's their leader and Lord Van's sword instructor and Guardian."

"His sword instructor and guardian," Hitomi repeated and looked at Balgus. While he appeared to seem grizzled there was a clear gentleness to the gray haired General. She began to wonder just exactly who Van really was, and why so many people seemed to care so much for the young man.

Balgus looked at Van as he spoke, "Welcome back Lord Van."

Van nodded, "Thank you Balgus."

He glanced around and mentally sighed. Folken was nowhere to be seen. Van knew it would have to be some huge event to get the young king to leave the castle, but still he felt a bit frustrated that his brother had not been there with Balgus to greet him. His eyes looked over at the castle for just a moment before he reached into his pocket to remove the energist and held it up high. In the light of the morning sun it sparkled brightly and the crowd gave quiet murmurs of amazement.

"I, Van Fanel, have completed the task of Dragon Slaying and have returned with this Dragenergist as proof so that I might take my rightful place in the royal house of Fanel."

The Samurai looked on in surprise. Van had actually done it, there was no doubt. Luva gasped upon seeing the stone, while Asona muttered, "That's the real thing alright."

"Amazing," Naria uttered, and Eriya stared stunned. Ruhm could only smile, after all Van was Folken's little brother, he came from the same stock that had made Garou such a great king.

"A Dragenergist," Yurizen stated as he stared.

"Never in my life time…" an old woman in the crowd murmured.

"Can't believe that they both did it," an older man whispered.

"He certainly is King Folken's brother," uttered a young man and another nodded as Balgus knelt before Van. The other three followed his example heads bowed to the young man. Naria and Eriya looked up at Van, for the moment he looked very much like his brother, strong, kind and brave. In that moment they felt a sense of pride swelling in them.

"He's growing too," Eriya whispered to Naria who nodded.

"Lord Folken will be pleased."

As the Generals knelt Balgus spoke, "We Four Brigader Generals of the Samurai of Fanelia verify this to be true. In completion of your task, you may take your rightful place as Prince Van of Fanelia."

Cheers erupted as Van thanked his mentor. Hitomi watched as Ruhm got down and, with the help of the other men, assisted Hitomi off the cart.

_He's a prince?_ She thought watching Van. A hand soon came upon her shoulder and she glanced up to see Eriya standing over her. A slightly smug smile was upon the gold haired woman's face as she purred.

"Now, about our questions…"

"Eriya," Van said and she glanced over. He did not look amused in the least. "She's with me."

"I see," Eriya let go of her shoulder, "My apologize Lord Van, but she does seem suspicious to me."

Ruhm snorted, "I would think any woman getting close to the Prince or King would seem suspicious to you."

Eriya shot him a glare. "What was that Wolf?"

Ruhm held up his hands to show he wasn't there for a fight. "All I said was that anyone might seem suspicious to you. But this girl, she's good, you can trust her."

Naria crossed her arms and looked at Hitomi as the crowds started to part. Balgus looked to the group as if waiting for them to follow him. She gave him a nod, implying that she and her sister would be escorting them to the castle. The lead General gave a short nod then followed his men.

Hitomi glanced at Ruhm with a smile, grateful that someone trusted her.

"I don't see how you can say that. We don't even know who she is," Eriya was shouting when Naria looked at Van.

"Care to tell us who your guest is, Your Grace?"

"She can tell you herself," Van stated and motioned to Hitomi. "We should get going."

"She's not going anywhere till we get a name," Eriya said. Ruhm looked to Naria as he spoke.

"Hitomi, Hitomi Kanzaki," he looked at Hitomi. "I said that correctly?"

She nodded, "Yes."

"Hitom huh…?" Eriya said and pulled a finger to her lip. "So, where are you from Hitomi."

"Well…" she looked at Van. He crossed his arms.

"This isn't the time or the place, Eriya we'll explain everything when we're at the castle."

She glanced at her sister to see what she thought. Naria tilted her head, weighing the options then gave a short nod. "Alright, but when we get there, you are explaining things Prince Van."

"Yes, I know." He exhaled. Merle took his arm tightly.

"It'll be okay Lord Van, you'll see. I'm sure Lord Folken won't be too upset!"

"Yeah…right. What part do you think he won't be too upset about, Merle? The one where I was chased by a land Dragon and nearly died fighting it, or the part where I was taken to the Mystic Moon and brought a girl back with me?" he harshly whispered to her.

Hitomi watched him heading off then looked to Ruhm. He was pulling a few items off his cart, and Eriya was hanging around waiting for her. The wolf man paused, "Yes Miss Hitomi, something I can help you with."

"Well I…I just wanted to say thank you, for helping us."

He laughed, "It's no trouble. Just see to it next time you don't wind up appearing in an area where land dragons are common, makes it harder to get a scent."

She nodded and Van called out, "Hey Girl, are you coming or not!"

"I have a name! You can try using it." She shouted back as she rushed after Van, Merle and Naria. Ruhm watched with a smile. She didn't realize it, but he was actually walking slower and waiting for her.

"I think our young prince has found a friend," Ruhm said nonchalantly to no one, but intending for Eriya to hear. She sniffed.

"She's from that other world isn't she. It's an ill omen Ruhm," Eryia said examining her nails. He shrugged moving around a box.

"Could be, or she could be something good."

"Do you Arzasians always act so optimistic?" she asked.

He smirked at her and leaned against the cart. "Do you cat's always act so pessimistic about other people? You should give them a chance once in a blue moon, they might actually prove to be better than you think."

She flushed and glared, "What's that supposed to mean!"

"Whatever you make of it Lady Eriya," he teased her and she hissed. Ruhm laughed and grinned then bowed.

"Well I should make sure my men get food and some rest before we leave. We have a ways to go back to the village."

Eriya paused, "You're heading back already?"

He nodded, "Yes, don't forget I'm the leader of the pack there. Work never stops for me."

"I know," she said trying to hide some disappointment. "I thought that you'd be staying for the festivities and coronation."

"Hummm," he thought and sadly shook his head. "Duties call me home," he gave her a gentle smile, "But I might have some free time to chat later."

She nodded, "If that's what you want."

Ruhm chuckled seeing her take on her cooler attitude. Saying a fast farewell Eriya hurried to catch up with her sister and the others.

_Ten of Cups- Usually marks a success or happy situation; it also implies reversed new births._


	6. Chapter 6: The Valiant King

Escaflowne: Twisted Fate

**AN: I'm so glad so many people really like this story; it's been a joy to write it. Again Escaflowne is owned by Bandai entertainment and I own nothing. Twists and turns coming and some interesting hints about past meetings, and hopefully I can get to the hawk's master. Okay make that next chapter. - You'll meet her next chapter.**

_Chapter 6: The Valiant King (King of Wands)_

Hitomi raced to catch up with Van and the other as they traversed the streets to the castle. Naria glanced back and called, "Lord Van, please stop lagging, we don't have time for sightseeing."

"I'm not," he shouted back trying to get Merle to let go of him. Van looked over his shoulder at Hitomi who was being slightly inquisitive about the shops on the street. Why had they not taken the Miller's way? At least there she would have had less to look at. "Hey, Come on. We can't wait all day for you."

"Oh. Right sorry," Hitomi stated pulling her eyes away from the various hair decorations that a woman was selling. She thanked the seller and jogged over to Van and Merle. The cat girl gave her a funny look.

"Well what?" Hitomi asked her. Merle sniffed.

"You shouldn't make us wait. It's rude."

"It's fine Merle," Van shrugged, he was in no mood to hurry, he already knew he'd be getting a lecture from his brother about running away as he had. Folken had covered his disappearance by claiming that he'd taken the rite of passage, however both knew what he'd really been doing.

Van started to walk as Hitomi caught up, "Let's go."

Merle nodded as Hitomi walked beside them. Eriya was following them up from behind. Van glanced over at Hitomi and bit his lip trying not to laugh. She acted like a child at Christmas gazing around curiously at the stalls and merchants. Fanelia looked so familiar up close. Her stares, and the respective whispers from the merchants noticing her looking, caught Naria's attention. She wanted to get back, quickly, without having to deal with people wanting to see and talk to Lord Van and his surprise guest. The less the people knew about the situation, the better she would feel. Word spread fast, and she didn't want it getting outside the city to the other countries. Not only would it bring unwanted issues to Fanelia, but it could land the young woman in the sights of various countries that she felt had unscrupulous governments.

"Something bothering you?" the cat woman asked. Hitomi glanced away from a stall with fabrics and blushed, "Huh? Ah, no. It's not that, it's just that…"

"Just what…?" Eriya inquired from behind. Van kept his eyes forward but listened quietly as Hitomi explained. She had her hands folded in front of her and was looking down at them.

"It's just that this place reminds me of a trip I took once in middle school. We went to see a very old town that was fixed to look like an era that had passed way before I was born. I thought it was really pretty."

"I see," Naria nodded. "Well Merle can show you around later, if you'd like." She had her eyes close and peeked at the cat girl. "Isn't that right Merle?"

Merle scowled and glared at Hitomi after smiling brightly at the leopard woman. Hitomi held up her hands and gave a nervous smile, "No, that's…that's okay. She doesn't have to… really."

_I'm sure I won't be staying here very long anyway_, she thought as they approached the castle gates. Guards saluted Naria as they passed through.

"Suit yourself," the woman said and nodded a greeting to the guards. Eriya waved at them and one blushed whispering something to the other.

"Did you see that, she waved at me," he grinned. Naria rolled her eyes.

"Eriya, I do wish you would stop getting their hopes up like that."

"I was just amusing myself, sister." Eriya smirked to Naria.

"Well don't," insisted the elder twin. The two moved ahead of the trio as Van paused, making Hitomi and Merle stop.

"I'll have to make it up to you…" he said to Hitomi who looked confused and Van looked away quickly, "for helping me. That is."

"I thought you said you didn't need my help," Hitomi smiled at him kindly and he flushed.

"Yeah, well I don't want to be rude. So…I'll make it up to you."

Hitomi nodded as a guard walked over to them and she didn't notice Merle's glare.

"Lord Van," the guard said and Van looked at him.

"Yes?"

"Sir Balgus is awaiting you in his study."

Van made a face, "So much for avoiding the inevitable."

"Humm?" Hitomi inquired and he waved it off.

"Nothing, I just have to talk to someone." He glanced at the twins and called to them. "Naria, Eriya, can you two make sure Hitomi gets a room?"

"Yes," Naria nodded as Eriya added.

"We're already making preparations." She motioned to a maid that bowed to the twin felines and headed off into the inner castle. Hitomi looked around somewhat amazed by how much the castle itself resembled a Japanese shogun's home. She could easily imagine parades marching from the castle into the town square, samurai dressed in their best waving bright banners.

"Thanks," Van smiled and tapped Hitomi on the shoulder breaking her out of her daydreaming. Van blinked at her and motioned with his head. "When the room's ready Naria and Eriya will take you there, okay?"

"Ah, sure," She smiled and he nodded then followed the samurai. Merle quickly raced after him, stopping at the archway, she stuck out her tongue at Hitomi before she went in after Van.

* * *

Hitomi narrowed her brow at Merle as she vanished, "Why that …"

"Ignore her," Naria said crossing her arms and calling Hitomi's attention towards her. Eriya stood beside her sister, hand on her hip. Up close Hitomi could see how pretty they really were and strong too. Their arms were long and muscular and she noticed that their gloves had small cuts where she was certain their claws came out.

"Now, since were finally alone, we have some questions for you, Lady Hitomi," Naria continued as Eriya added.

"If that's your real name…."

"It is!" Hitomi told them and looked between the twins. "My name is Hitomi Kanzaki, and I'm from Kamakura Japan."

"Kamakura?" intoned Naria and looked at Eriya. "Have you ever heard of such a place?"

"Not me," shrugged the younger twin who glanced back at Hitomi with disbelieving look.

"That's because it's on the Mystic moon," Hitomi tried to explain. She felt like she was going to get nowhere with these two. They didn't trust her at all, and why should they? When Van had first appeared Amano had not trusted him in the least bit. He'd just appeared with a sword drawn, and now she was receiving the same treatment he'd had. She looked down disgusted. How was she ever going to get them to believe her?

Naria looked at her sister, she suddenly felt a bit bad for being hostile towards the girl, just a bit. After all she was a stranger, and they had to protect Prince Van, it was the King's wish.

"Lady Hitomi, would you tell us how you wound up with Prince Van? That may clear up the confusion, because frankly, we don't know a thing about you." Naria said in a slightly more gentle tone.

"She's right, how can we tell if you're here to be his friend or to kill him?" Eriya was saying when she felt her sister pinch her, "Ow! That hurts."

"Good, now be silent and let the girl speak."

Hitomi nodded slowly, choosing her words carefully. She wanted to say that she would never hurt the prince, but that may have only angered the twin women. And at the moment they were giving her a chance. She cleared her throat and talked slowly, "Well you see, I honestly don't know where to begin. You know I'm from the mystic moon."

Eriya nodded as Naria gave no reaction as Hitomi went on.

"That's where my home is, and where I go to school, it's a building where…well…lots of people go to learn. We have a track out behind the main building; it's where I run as part of my school's track team."

"Track team?" asked Naria looking curious for the first time. Hitomi nodded.

"Yes, it's…It's a sport. We run in races and the winners of those races are given awards for completing the race."

Naria looked at Eriya, "Sounds like the races here for the festivals."

Eriya nodded, and crossed her arms as Naria put her hands on her hips. "Okay so you were on this race track…"

Hitomi continued, "Right, I was there with my best friend, Yukari, Yukari Uchida and Captain Amano, he's the head of the boys' race team. He…he was timing me while I was doing a sprint down the track, with my pendent."

She showed the two women the pendent and swung it slowly, "See, it counts, it takes a full second to swing."

Eriya counted till five and Naria stopped the pendent, "Fine, and then what?"

"Well, I was sprinting to the end of the track where Amano was, when I saw a flash of light and Van appeared in front of me…" Hitomi put the pendent back on.

"Address him as Lord Van," corrected Naria and lowered her eyelids some looking annoyed. Hitomi quickly corrected herself not wanting to anger her.

"S-Sorry, Lord Van appeared in this long pillar of light, and we collided."

Naria nodded slowly watching Hitomi's eyes to see if she was lying. She shivered some inside. _So that's where that light went to. But why did it appear, and how?_ Naria thought, then bade Hitomi with a, "Continue."

"Right, well, then a dragon appeared after Amano talked to Van. It was more than just the dragon though. There was a cave with moss and a forest." She told them and Eriya blinked and looked at Naria then back at Hitomi.

"You mean to tell me that an entire cave appeared on the Mystic moon?" she asked incredulously. Hitomi moved back.

"Well not an entire cave, the opening as far as we could see. It was kind of hard to tell since we were staring more at the dragon."

"Well did it or didn't it fully appear!" Eriya exclaimed and her sister gave a yank to her tail.

"Hush, let the girl finish." Naria told her and looked at Hitomi. "The dragon came…"

"And Van…ah Lord Van, told us to run, so we did. My friends and I made it up to a shrine and the dragon followed us, with Lord Van tailing it. The prince had a huge fight with the dragon, and I…I saw him being killed. At least that's what I thought I saw. I knew something bad was going to happen, so I told him to look out, and he managed to get away and kill the dragon. That's when the light came back and zapped us up. We woke up in the forest, and well you know the rest I'm sure…"

She watched the women to see if they were convinced. Naria looked at Eriya who bit her lip.

"It rings true," Naria admitted and looked at Eriya who nodded slightly. The older twin tilted her head at Hitomi, "Anything to add?"

The younger girl shook her head deciding against mentioning the fact that she slapped Van in the first place. Naria pushed back some hair over her shoulder and motioned to Eriya.

"Alright then, stay here, we have to get some things for your room and some small business to attend to first." Naria explained to Hitomi. "We'll be back in a while, so don't go getting yourself into trouble."

Hitomi gave a nod and leaned against a wall when they had left, finally catching her breath, and looking around at the populace of the castle.

* * *

Van glance out the window of Balgus's study, and looked below at the court yard where Hitomi and the twins were talking. He seemed lost in thought and did not hear the samurai general entering the room.

"Lord Van," Balgus spoke and Van almost jumped. He turned and tried to ignore the scene outside. Merle was crouched on a chair watching them looking rather guilty. She had been persuaded by Folken to, at least, explain where Van had intended to go. Her tail twitched some as Balgus looked at her, "Merle, would you leave us alone, please. I'd like a word with Lord Van in private."

"Of course," Merle said as she slipped off the chair and looked nervously at Van. "I'm sorry, Lord Van. I tried, I really did."

Van sighed and glanced out again, the twins were gone by now leaving Hitomi on her own. He wondered if he should just excuse himself, deal with Balgus later and see how she was doing. Maybe get her to know Fanalia some before she had to meet with his brother. That way she wouldn't be so nervous.

"Lord Van?" Balgus asked and he blinked looking at Merle who was waiting for his reply. Van pushed some bangs away from his eyes.

"It's okay Merle; it's not your fault. You weren't the one that told on me." It was useless being upset at her. He couldn't blame her for talking, not with how the twins treated her like a little sister. Besides Van knew exactly who had talked to Folken, and he was going to let her hear it when she got back.

Watching her go Balgus shut the door and locked it. He looked at Van whose eyes refused to meet his as the older man spoke.

"Lord Van, you do realize your actions placed your brother in a precarious position. You could have been killed."

Van tensed as he spoke, "Balgus you said yourself I was ready for this."

"Yes, and I felt that you were…"

"So what's the big deal?" Van spat looking angry. Balgus remained impassive as he spoke.

"Lord Van, as you know it's the King's final decision at what time you may take the right of passage. Lord Folken felt that this was not your time," he crossed his arms. "While I disagreed with him, your behavior was very unbecoming of a young man who is going to become crowned prince."

_Unbecoming!_ Van thought. "What's unbecoming is my brother's inability to see me as an adult. I'm fifteen Balgus! When is he going to realize that I'm not five anymore? I realize that it was dangerous Balgus, okay. I knew it the minute I was in the forest."

He sighed and grew quiet knowing that the samurai would not react to anger. "It's not like I didn't recognize I could get into trouble. I just…I just want him to stop treating me like I'm a kid, that's all. Is that too much to ask for?"

"No Lord Van, it is not," Balgus agreed and walked over to him. "However the way that you went about trying to show him that you should be treated as such was far more reckless and childlike then you understand."

Balgus looked at the young prince kindly and Van looked away, "Did you believe that slaying a dragon would make him see you as a man?"

"No, I just thought that if I could do it on my own, actually do something on my own for once, he'd be less worried about me…" he paused and looked at Balgus. "I thought he would be proud of me. That's all."

Balgus gave him a warm look as the young prince looked up. "Sometimes it's hard for him to see the man you have become Lord Van. Never forget that your brother cares deeply for you, and that he is proud of you."

Van looked away again, "Yeah, well he has a funny way of showing it."

Balgus went silent. It was clear that Van had been hoping that his brother would have come to greet him.

"There were reasons he did not…" Balgus started to say when Van cut him off snapping.

"I don't want to hear it! I'm his brother and he can't even come out here to see me? Is he that ashamed of me?" Van asked. Balgus scowled some.

"Lord Van you know that's not true! He was very concerned about…"

"Not worried enough to even see me when I got back!" Van yelled and moved away from Balgus. He clenched his fists keeping his eyes to the ground. "He didn't even come out to see me. I bet he wasn't worried at all. He was probably in his study reading like he's always doing! I would have thought he would have been the first one there! I thought that he would be out looking for me…"

He was shaking, "Maybe…Maybe it would have been better if I would have stayed on the Mystic moon! Then he wouldn't have to even think about me!"

"Lord Van, think about what you're saying!" Balgus scolded him.

"I don't care; I'm going to my room. If he wants to see me let him find me then! I'm through talking Balgus!" Van shouted and rushed to the door, unlocking it, and ran out into the hallways. He hurried up some stairs to the upper floor where he spotted Merle leaning against a wall near his room. She was waiting for him and grinned when she saw him.

"Lord Van! Are you feeling better?"

Van shrugged and looked out a window at a small garden hidden by the side of the castle. He saw Folken planting something, and frowned.

"He has time for planting, but won't even come to see me," he muttered. Merle gave him a funny look as Van walked into his room. She caught the door with her hand just before he could slam it shut. She slipped in and shut it then watched him sit down on a widow seat, resting his head on his arms and staring outside. He felt like a bird in a cage, always able to fly only so far before his master called him back. In the distance he could see Atherios flying about and for a moment wondered if that's how the young hawk felt.

"Lord Van?" Merle asked quietly as she sat beside him.

"Yeah?" Van raised his head just a bit. He caught a glimpse of Hitomi's shadow as she was meandering around the grounds. She looked rather helpless out there among the sea of uniformed samurai and servants. He felt somewhat bad about taking her with him, but it wasn't his fault, it was the stupid light that drew them both up.

"Lord Folken was really worried about you Lord Van," Merle said as he sniffed not looking at her.

"Uh huh, that's why he hasn't come to see me."

Merle bit her lip and kept her eyes forward as she spoke. "He might not let people see it, but when the others left the room, I stayed behind and peeked in to check on him. He was standing on the balcony and looking out over the cliffs. He –he looked so sad; I think he was crying Lord Van.

Van glanced over at her. _Crying? Folken never cries, the last time I saw him crying was…_he blinked and thought about the day his mother vanished, that was the last time Folken had cried, or to be more exact, that was the last time Van had seen him cry.

"I know that he's always watching us when we go out. I think that maybe he didn't come today because he was worried that he wouldn't know what to do when he saw you. You know he cares so much for you, Lord Van."

She looked at him and then looked back out, "Lord Van, Naria told me that Lord Folken was frantic when you disappeared. It took everything that Balgus and Luva had to keep him from ridding out to where the light had appeared. She said that when he saw that light, the look in his eyes, it looked like his heart was breaking."

Van blinked as he lifted his head fully and felt a shudder run through him as she went on her eyes on the ground blinking tears as she had been worried herself.

"Eriya told me about his reaction to the light, Lord Van. He wouldn't rest at all trying to find a way to bring you back. He was so determined." She looked up at him. "Lord Van, can't you give him a chance. I'm sure that, he's just trying to get his emotions sorted out. After all, he can't be that upset at you, he's making you a Prince officially."

She smiled and Van thought about what she had said looking at the sky. Even when their father had died Folken had acted so calm. He closed his eyes trying to remember that day twelve years ago. He saw in his mind a small boy of two trying to comprehend what was going on. His mother had been crying on his father's body. Folken had been standing on the side looking at their mother, but then came to Van's side and picked him up.

"Brother, what's wrong with Daddy?" Van had asked him and Folken had set him down holding his hand. "Why isn't Daddy waking up?"

Folken didn't look down but spoke quietly, "Father…Father isn't waking up because he's not here anymore. He's sleeping forever Van. He… he won't be waking up, so we have to be here for Mother okay?"

Little Van nodded slowly and felt Folken squeeze his hand. It slowly dawned on him, that his brother had been holding his hand so tightly so he wouldn't cry in front of their mother and make her comfort him. She needed to mourn first before they could. Van looked at his hand, and felt a wave of something from his brother infect him.

"Van?" Folken's voice called to him gently. "Van, don't worry, I'll always be here for you. Even if we're apart, I'm going to stay by your side, little brother."

He saw images flash of Folken the night before, yelling at the guards to let him go. This was part of the connection that they shared, things that happened around them, when either of the brothers let go of their own emotions or desires they could share what the other had seen briefly.

"Sire! You can't go out there, it's too dangerous!" shouted one guard as Folken tried to head out. Van could see the night sky, so he knew he was seeing what Folken had done the night before.

"My brother's out there, let go of me Rokan," insisted the young king as he pulled away from the guards. Luva was standing at the ready to use force to stop Folken from running and the young king knew it. He looked over at Balgus. "Please Balgus. I can't even sense Van here! He could be in trouble, I know the forest. You have to let me go."

"Sire, if you were to be killed who would govern in your stead?" he asked quietly. Folken stared at him.

"What does that have to do with anything?! Van is out there right now and…"

"And what would he do if you were to be hurt searching for him." Balgus told him crossing his arms. Folken looked up at the burly samurai. "Lord Folken, I know that your hearts in the right place, but you must remember that you are King now. You have your subjects to consider, not just your brother."

"I know that…but I can't lose Van! I've already lost…" he was gripping his sword tightly and unsheathed it. "If you won't let me leave then I'll cut my way out Balgus."

Balgus looked at the young King, drew his sword and waited. Folken charged but a fast blow from the elder man knocked the sword from Folken's hands. He was emotionally exhausted already, and though he could put up a fight, Balgus knew that he would be in no state to deal with a dragon or something far worse in the forest.

Folken stared at the sword and his trembling hand. He clenched his fist and looked at his mentor. "Why; Why are you doing this?!"

"Because, your brother needs you here Lord Folken, he would be upset if you were to die due to recklessly rushing out after him," Balgus told him as he sheathed his sword. Folken watched as the older man turned his back to him. "Lord Folken I suggest you start looking up information regarding that light that we just saw. I'm certain in your capable hands such information will illicit some form of returning Lord Van safely home. Don't you think?"

Folken gazed at Balgus and nodded. If he couldn't help his brother physically then he'd find a way to bring him back, even if it took years. He wouldn't rest till Van was returned home…

The scene faded in Van's mind as he shook his head. Once more the young Prince's eyes drifted to his hand and he squeezed it. He's always trying to be strong for me…and for mom.

Van looked out at the sun as clouds passed by. "He worries a lot about me, doesn't he Merle."

She nodded, "Yeah."

Van squeezed his hand once before getting up and dusting off his pants. "Well I better go."

"Go where?" she asked blinking and followed Van out of his room. He smiled.

"Folken's room of course. Coming?"

She grinned and followed after him happily, "Coming Lord Van!"

* * *

Outside Hitomi slowly wandered around the castle grounds looking about as if she were in a museum. Young men in Samurai uniforms watched her with smiles as they went about their duties, some whispering, most greeting her with friendly waves. Hitomi waved back but felt awkward as she shifted her duffle bag.

Where did the twins go, it's been over twenty minutes that they've been gone. She wondered watching women bustle about carrying linens and baskets, while chatting and laughing with the samurai. Everyone seemed so upbeat and cheerful that Hitomi relaxed more and let herself wander away from the meeting point. She strolled around a corner of one of the smaller buildings and spotted three maids in conversation. They were dressed in simple dresses, the center carrying a folded blanket. The one to the center's left had her hair put up in a long braid, while the one to the right was wearing her hair in a half ponytail with a bow in it.

"Can you believe he pulled it off?" said the first one with the half ponytail.

"This is so exciting, Lord Van becoming a Prince officially, I can't wait to see him in uniform," grinned the third as she crossed her arms under her chest.

The center nodded with a giggle, "He's become so handsome too, just like his brother."

"Yes he looks like his father, but Lord Folken has more of their mother's features and certainly her good looks." Said the third and the first happily nodded.

"Do you think the Prince will dance at the celebration tonight?" asked the first.

"I'm sure Lord Folken will at least get him to dance once," said the second. The first looked up at the sky.

"What about that girl that came with him?"

"Too plain," the second and third said in unison; Hitomi twitched some. The third contemplated quietly.

"Lady Sora would have liked to have met her though."

"Really?" the first asked and the second one nodded.

_Lady Sora?_ Hitomi wondered watching them. _Who's that?_

"She was always talking about the Mystic Moon."

"Wasn't there some boy from there?" questioned the first. "I remember Merith telling me once that she had met a young man from that world and became obsessed with it. She was always trying to find out information on it."

"Well," the third started to say and then stopped when she noticed Hitomi's shadow. She looked at the second and nudged her some. The other two went quiet and the center coughed.

"Can we help you?" the second intoned and Hitomi stepped out rather sheepishly as the second asked again. "Can we help you with something, milady?"

The other two bowed to her and Hitomi blushed, "Ah, no, I was just looking around, that's all."

"Well than if you'll excuse us we do have work to do," the second said with a clipped tone and the first and third gave a polite nod to her.

"Oh, right, I'm sorry to bother you." Hitomi told them as they maneuvered away from her and faded into the crowd. She watched them go, hearing the first say in a not so quiet whisper.

"She likes snooping it seems."

"Yes, I wonder what Lord Van could ever see in a girl like that." The second commented rudely. Hitomi bit her lip, it wasn't as if she had asked to come with him, they didn't have to act so snobbish about it. She leaned against a wall and slid a bit.

_Oh Amano…Yukari…what sort of place am I in? I just want to go home._ She buried her head in her arms as she pulled her knees up to her chest. Her mind became lost in thoughts of home, when a sweet whistling broke her from them. Hitomi picked up her head and listened. The servants and samurai were still walking around, but it didn't look as if any of them were whistling. She got up, closing her eyes and listening to the melody, letting it pull her to its maker. The song was so calming that Hitomi soon forgot her worries and she wasn't sure if it was real or if she was imagining it.

Walking farther around the castle Hitomi found herself in an area that was nearly deserted, save for a lone few samurai that seemed to be lazing about on the ground, or chatting with one another. The whistling was louder here and the louder it got the closer she was sure she was getting to the source. Eventually Hitomi came upon a small path which led to a gated garden.

She raised the latch of the wooden gate after peeking over and making out a figure in the far corner. Hitomi made her way past various vegetation and flowers. The gentle whistling was lifting her spirits, even though the song seemed a bit melancholy.

Hitomi stopped when she discovered the source of the music came from the figure in the far back. That figure turned out to be a young man, with bluish hair that hung very much like Van's, who was tending some small red flowers. He was whistling as he worked. Dressed in a green tunic and brown pants and boots, he worked diligently with his fingers in the dirt. His right arm was covered by a sleeve, while his left was exposed showing muscles of someone who worked out specifically to compensate for an injury to the opposing limb.

As Hitomi watched him she noticed that he favored his left arm over his right as he worked. She stood there quietly as he finished his song. She had been so enraptured by it that she suddenly realized that she had probably wandered into a place off limits to her. Feeling she was imposing Hitomi backed up to go as quietly as she had come, but stepped onto a handle of a long fork looking hand tool, and the young man heard the click as it hit against a spade.

The man looked up, pushing the blue bangs from his eyes, and blinked looking at her. For a moment Hitomi met his red brown eyes and thought. _He has the same eyes as Van_. Then lost her footing and stumbled backwards, tripping over the tool.

"Watch out," the young man grabbed her wrist with his left hand as he lunged at her. Hitomi was pulled to her knees and the young man gave a relived sigh then smiled.

"You wouldn't want to land in a bag of mulch, would you miss."

Hitomi blushed as she looked at his smile. It was so kind and reminded her of Yukari's. She smiled back.

"Um, no, I wouldn't have. Thank you, I'm sorry if I disturbed you."

He laughed, "Not at all. I was just finishing up."

"Oh, um, what were you doing?" she asked curiously. The young man glanced up at her and he motioned with his hand at the flowers.

"Planting some flowers for the king, as you can see."

She looked at the small buds as he patted dirt around the one that he'd just finished planting. The young man grinned.

"King Folken said that if his brother came back he would plant fifteen dragon snappers, one for each of Lord Van's fifteen years," he explained to her. "So since he came back so fast, he added five more. I was just putting them in for him."

She glanced at the gardener curiously, "Why did he say that?"

"Because," the man paused, "He hates these flowers."

"That's a silly reason to plant them," Hitomi stated and the young man chuckled.

"Yeah, it is, but he knows someone who liked these very much and he'd made this same promise when she vanished, so he decided to make good on his word, besides Prince Van likes them."

"Oh I see, so it's for Va…I mean Prince Van then?" she corrected herself and he gave her a grin.

"You can call him Van; I think he'd prefer that. Everyone but his brother calls him Lord Van."

"His brother, you mean the king?" she asked and he nodded.

"King Folken, I'm sure you've met him already right?"

"No, I haven't, and I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the king calls him Van, they are brothers," she smiled at him. "I'm Hitomi."

"Dune," he extended his right hand to shake hers. Hitomi noticed that his grip with this hand was significantly weaker than the grip with the left.

"Dune?" she repeated and he laughed.

"Yes, like a sand dune."

"Oh," she smiled. "Well pleased to meet you Dune."

"You as well Lady Hitomi," he grinned and got up helping her to her feet. "You must be tired after your trip. The castle is buzzing about you."

"Hitomi looked down. "So I noticed."

Dune gave her a concerned look as he gathered up his tools and put them in his cloth sack. "Did something happen?"

"No, not really, just people talking about me," she shrugged. He nodded understanding.

"When someone's different, people tend to find faults in others to make themselves feel better. But as far as I know the people here are very glad that you were with the Prince."

She blinked, "How…how did you know about that?"

He grinned at her, as he put the bag over his shoulder, in a teasing manner, "Word spreads fast in a castle. I'm sure that even the King knows by now. No doubt he'll want to thank you later…personally."

Hitomi backed up some feeling her cheeks grown hot as Dune shifted the bag on his shoulder, "For now though, I bet you'd like a nice bath and rest."

Hitomi smiled and nodded, and Dune waved her to follow. "I'll show you to your room then, Lady Hitomi."

"Oh, thank you, but I thought the twins were going to show me," she told him and he gave her a charming smile.

"So you would rather them escort you?"

She blushed just a bit, "No, I mean they asked me to wait for them."

Dune chuckled again, "Don't worry, they'll show you to your bath."

Hitomi nodded, mentally wondering if he was just teasing her or actually flirting with her. As they came out of the gate a guard hurried over.

"Sir…" he started but Dune put out his left arm and held him back.

"Ah, excuse me, probably more work from the king." He said and quickly ushered the guard aside, then spoke to him in a low voice. Hitomi watched as she waited. Dune nodded and then waved the guard off. Coming back over he asked her softly, "Lady Hitomi, would you mind waiting out front for me. The king asked for my assistance with something."

"Oh, sure," she said as he lead her back to the center court of the castle. There he gave her a short bow.

"I'll be back soon, if I'm not, and you see the twins, do let them take you to your room, and please don't wander."

Hitomi nodded, "Alright."

"Thank you," he smiled at her then headed inside as she watched him go wondering exactly who Dune really was.

* * *

Van was sitting on Folken's bed when the young king walked in. Much like his study it was decorated in various books and art work that Folken like. Folken set down the tool bag and opened the shutters of his window wider to get more air into the simple room. He'd rejected taking a larger room that his father and mother once used. Partly due to the fact that to him it seemed rather silly to have a room that large for only one person and partly due to the fact that he felt it was a slight on his parents as it was kept the same way they had left it before both had died. Or in their Mother's case, before she had disappeared. The other reason was that his room was only three down from Van's and he could go to check on the boy in case of night terrors.

Van watched his older brother go to his wardrobe as Folken muttered about the stuffy nature in his room. "You would think that the maids would at least air this room out once in a while."

"No doubt they're worried that you'll notice they've been looking at your things." Van commented and Folken chuckled.

"Do they honestly consider me that unapproachable that they must look at my things to get to know me?"

"That or they're afraid that you'll dismiss them quickly, after all you are considered the most eligible man in Fanalia." Van pointed out and Folken looked at him.

"Second…I'm the second."

Van looked at him curiously as Folken turned to pull off his dirty shirt and explained, "You're the first."

"Oh really?" Van shook his head. "No offense, but I see you gaining a girlfriend long before I do brother."

"Oh? You think so? And I was hoping to be a bachelor at your wedding," Folken smiled as he pulled out a simple dark blue shirt with one sleeve. Van looked at his brother noting the scars on his mangled right arm. Folken hid it because he didn't want to scare anyone, but Van knew it was a mix of vanity and not wanting people to feel sorry for him.

"So why were you in the garden?" Van inquired changing the subject. Folken checked the stitches on the shirt.

"Keeping a promise, planting some snappers," he said pulling the shirt back outside in. "Mom's junipers are still blooming. I didn't expect them to last this long."

"I thought you hated snappers," Van leaned forward some on the bed. His tone was casual, though he was still worried about what Folken would say to him.

"I do," Folken said putting the shirt on and sitting down next to Van. "But you like them."

"You planted them for me?"

Folken nodded, "I made Mom a promise, if you came back, I'd plant fifteen of those with my own hands."

"Even though you hate the smell?"

"Yes." Folken said and Van whistled.

"Were you drinking last night?"

Folken pushed him some and Van smiled lightly.

"No, I wasn't."

"You really did that, with your own hands? Fifteen of them?"

"No," Folken said and Van arched his brow, as Folken muttered, "I planted twenty. I can't understand how you and Sora like those flowers, they smell so sweet. It's almost nauseating."

"Says you," Van teased. "You used to like them. I remember you would dip them in sugar glaze and eat the petals."

"Yeah, I do. I got so sick from eating too many of them this one time, that Mom banned sweets from me for a year, even though I was sixteen."

"And I had to sneak them to you," Van chuckled. Folken smiled.

"I still have the box you gave me to hide them in." He motioned to the dresser where a simple wooden box, carved with various animals, sat with no dust on it, compared to the other objects around it.

"You still use the hidden compartment?" Van asked.

"How else can I hide things from you?" Said Folken and this time Van gave his brother a shove. "What, a man has to have his own secrets doesn't he?"

"Yeah, yeah," Van muttered and looked at the floor. His brother was like that. Just when he thought he could get mad at him Folken would turn it around and cheer him up. He was good at that; it made him a great politician. _It's funny_, Van thought; Folken always helped him feel better, just by being around. Like when they were children and he was still learning to shoot a bow and arrow. It was Folken that had sat with him and showed him how to wrap his bruising and it had been his brother that had always been there to protect him. But Van thought it was odd in some ways too, it was as if his brother knew something and didn't want him getting mixed up with it.

Van contemplated; now that he looked at it Folken even had set him on his little quest. Not intentionally but he had been the driving force behind it, wanting to make him proud, but Folken never took or asked for anything in return. Even when he had joked, it was if he wanted to make sure that Van had a secure future before even setting out on his own.

"Folken I…" Van started then stopped. Folken looked up at him, the older young man had moved back and was leaning against the footboard of the bed.

"You're sorry?" he inquired and Van shook his head.

"I'm not sorry that I did it," Folken nodded slowly as Van went on. "I'm just sorry about how I did it."

Van glanced at his older brother. He was a bit surprised that Folken was listening so attentively. _Maybe he's always been listening, and I've been missing that,_ Van wondered to himself. He thought of all the times they had fought and how Folken had acted. He never yelled or told Van he couldn't do it because he said so, it was always something due to danger or…Because there were other ways of proving a point.

Van figured that it was now or never, "Sometimes, I think…Folken, sometimes I feel like you treat me like I'm a kid."

"You are a kid…"

Van scowled, "I'm fifteen, when you were my age you killed a dragon. Why couldn't you let me do it! Why did you say I wasn't ready?"

Folken paused and looked at Van, his voice was quiet, full of authority, but somehow it was still gentle and understanding. "Van…when you killed that creature did it make you feel any stronger?"

"What?" Van paused as his brother looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Did killing the dragon make you feel stronger?"

"I…" he paused and looked at Folken, "I don't know…I was too worried about getting hit, or getting the others hurt."

Folken nodded, "Did you enjoy it Van?"

Van seriously thought about it then looked away.

"No."

"I didn't either," Folken nodded, "In fact I hated it. I hate the whole idea of it."

"But I thought you said a king needs to be strong!" Van looked at him.

"Strength doesn't always come in the form of wielding a sword Van," Folken said and held up his scarred arm. "It comes when you understand who you are and what you have to do to protect something that you care about. It comes from wanting to protect others, not from senselessly killing a creature that would have left you alone if you would have left it alone."

"So you're saying what I did was stupid?" Van spat and Folken shook his head.

"No, but I think that you're not looking at the larger picture Van. Do you really want to end up like this?" He exposed his arm and Van winced.

"Folken…" Van started and Folken cut him off heatedly.

"It's not like I wanted to, Van. It was what I had to do. When father died I had to become King. I wanted to find a way to let you go through the rite but in a way where you didn't have to endanger yourself in this way." He looked at his brother softly. "Van, I just think that you shouldn't have to do things like this. You're the one that taught me there are other ways. You're the one that made me think about it."

"Is it because you think I'm too weak?" Van spat and glared at his brother as Folken pulled down the sleeve. "Is it that you don't want me to get stronger?"

"That's Asona talking Van, not you. You're strong, you know it. But your strength doesn't come from killing a dragon, or fighting a war. You're not a warrior Van, you're way...you manage to befriend people. You have a kindness to you that others see, and they gravitate to you. I want a world where that sort of feeling can be spread all over. Where we don't have to fear war or fighting for a foolish cause, I want this world to be a world that's peaceful. Where you can grow up without having to take up a sword in mortal combat, that's all I want Van."

Van went quiet as Folken added, "Van…I didn't want you to do it because you're my brother, I love you, and I don't want to lose you. You're all that I have and to lose you…I don't know what I would do if I did Van."

Van looked at his brother as Folken looked out the window, "When Mom disappeared I swore I'd keep you safe. I don't want you having to lose that kindness in your heart. I know you want to grow up, but I want you to be a kid for a while longer. To appreciate things with that wonder that you have, do you understand?"

Van nodded as Folken put a hand on his little brother's shoulder, "I guess, but I want to be trusted Folken, is that too much to ask of you? To trust me and my judgment?"

"No, it's not. Mom used to tell me I kept you on to short a tether," Folken said and Van nodded, not wanting to look up, scared he would have to show that his eyes were moist. "Van I do trust you, but you can't be reckless. Growing up happens, just give it time –enjoy life while you can, you can never tell when something will drastically change for you."

Van slowly nodded, understanding what his brother was saying, and taking in every word. He knew why Folken took life so seriously, a glance at his arm easily told the story. Folken smiled and pulled Van close giving him a gentle one armed hug. "I'm proud of you Van Slanzar de Fanel. Never forget that."

Van felt a bit embarrassed but happy, he'd gotten his brother to say what he needed to hear.

"For?" the younger man inquired and Folken chuckled.

"For listening to Hitomi, and not getting yourself killed."

Van tossed off the arm in a playful manner and huffed some as if insulted. "You were trying to protect them weren't you?"

Van nodded, "Just don't tell her that."

Folken gave his brother a half smile that teased the younger Fanel, "Of course not I won't tell your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend," Van muttered covering a small flush. Everyone had been whispering about that, the more they said it the more he was looking at her, and Van didn't want to. After all, he kept reminding himself, she was going to have to go home. Folken nudged him some.

"I'm still in trouble aren't I?"

"Yes, the coronation ceremony is a cover, but you're still in trouble." Folken repeated.

"Grounded?" Van asked and Folken nodded, "how long?"

Folken held up three fingers, "Three weeks."

Van's jaw fell, "For what!"

"One, for running away and worrying me sick, two, for going after a dragon which I had told you not to, and three for putting others in danger."

Van groaned, "You're being unfair."

"I'm your brother, I get to be unfair."

Van glanced at his brother, even though he was a king, and had to act royal around others, somehow around Van he was just Folken. Van could never look at the young king as others could, even when they were calling him Majesty, all Van could do was look on and think of the boy that had taught him to climb a tree and sat for hours in a storm watching lighting till he had fallen asleep.

"So what happened? I want to hear your side of it," Folken said sitting up and looking at his brother with a smile. Van grinned back; the tension between them had melted away, just as it always did after a fight. Van took several minutes detailing the events for his brother. From the shaft of blue light that sucked him up, and how scared he was at the time, to landing on the track and colliding with Hitomi. The dragon appearing and the mad dash the trio had made to the shrine while he distracted the dragon, how the fight went and how scared the trio was of the beast. Van even reenacted parts, Folken 'ooo'ing and chuckling at the right points.

"And just when I was ready to attack Hitomi called out 'look out', so I dove aside just when the dragon tried to spear me. It got my armor, so I jumped over it and sliced it though, back to front." He told his older brother. Folken looked intrigued.

"She called out to you?"

"Yes, she said she saw me getting killed," Van told him and Folken looked out the window again. He gazed at Hitomi who was still waiting for him. Van looked out and then at his brother. "Folken?"

"Hummm, just thinking," Folken muttered and watched Hitomi move among the guards and servants. She was older and her body was longer, but there was no mistaking the face. The minute he'd seen her in the garden, he'd known. That little girl that had saved his life had come back to him, though his brother of all people. But why?

_You're the one that saved me and called me a Prince, aren't you Hitomi Kanzaki…_

_Note: A charming, responsible, loyal, entertaining, witty, honest, conscientious and generous person. A lover of the home and family life. A very passionate and virile man who is good at moral support and encouragement. When pushed or provoked he acts without hesitation, but can sometimes find this hard as he can often see both sides of an argument. (Reminded me of Folken when I read it)_


	7. Chapter 7: Noble Spy

Escaflowne: Twisted Fate

**AN: Yay I'm so happy that people really like this story. I had to cut my chapter in half, and now I'm happy to introduce the hawk's master. Sorry it took a while, I lost my notebook with my writing. As always Escaflowne is owned by Bandai Visual, and Fox Entertainment. (Slight change in name, Full name is now Lady Raphina Lynette Lafitte.)**

_Chapter 7: A Noble Spy (Page of Swords)_

Down in the courtyard the twins were shoving a few samurai back to their posts and away from flirting with a couple of serving girls. Hitomi watched them as the Samurai teased them about being unfair.

"What's unfair? You should be focusing on your job, not trying to get a date, back to your post." Naria told one who ducked after she took a swipe at his head when he was leaning in to close to her face. The young man chuckled, quickly running away from her. It was a wonder to her, these two women, they seemed so confident, but still very much like some of the older girls at her school. Brash like they ruled the place, but when the larger world was brought up in conversation, they seemed to shrink and try to change the subjects. That was how the twins acted. Confident, then childish at brief moments, they were trying to be adults in an adult world, but still were just children in their own way.

_Just like Van_, Hitomi thought walking over and remembering how mature he was acting when he'd presented the energist. She touched Eriya on the shoulder and the gold haired woman turned her gaze away from a solider that was fixing his boot.

"Um excuse me, Eriya," she asked and the blonde nodded.

"If you want to go to your room it's ready," she said to Hitomi as Naria came over to stand beside her sibling.

"Oh thank you; but I was, well, wondering if you saw a man named Dune. He said he'd show me to my room."

Eriya looked confused, "Dune…Naria, who's Dune?"

Naria stared quizzically, "I'm not sure, never heard of…"

"Hey you two, Lady Raphina is back!" called a guard. Hitomi blinked as the twins nodded.

"We'll let Lord Folken know," Naria told him and Hitomi noticed that a few guards had hurried towards the castle stairs.

"Lady Raphina?" Hitomi asked Naria who nodded.

"She's Lord Folken's personal body guard, assigned by Sir Balgus, and Balgus' adoptive daughter."

Hitomi recalled Balgus' appearance and wondered what this Lady Raphina would look like. By now a small crowd was at the steps as a strange looking deer loped up to them.

The rider was a young woman with bright blonde hair pulled into a high ponytail. A gold diadem was wrapped around her forehead and her blue eyes looked out with warmth. She was dressed in a dark green sleeveless tunic with gold embroidering around the high collar, under which she wore a loose pale white shirt with tight sleeves at the elbows and down the forearm. Over these sleeves she wore brown leather gauntlets, and a pair of black gloves shielded her hands. Cream pants hugged her body, tan knee high boots covered her feet, and the tunic was held in place by a silver belt, upon which was sheathed a sword. Over her shoulder she wore a short lilac colored cape, which hung over her right shoulder, and was pinned, in place by a braided gold clasp. Hitomi thought the lady looked very regale atop the steed, but one would never mistake her for a princess, she didn't have the refinement to pass off as one.

"Is that…" Hitomi asked and Naria nodded as the woman got off her mount, and chatted with the men that had come to greet her.

"Yes, that's her. Lady Raphina Lynette Lafitte."

Eriya snorted, "Don't let her appearance fool you. She's as serious as Balgus is."

Hitomi nodded and saw the gold hawk she'd seen that morning land on the woman's shoulder. _That's the hawk from this morning. Was she the woman in my dream?_

A guard below motioned up at the trio to Raphina who glanced up, shielding her eyes from the sinking sun. Eriya sighed, "Oh great, she's seen us."

"Eriya, behave," insisted Naria. Hitomi gave a sideways glance to the gold twin as the guard whispered something to the new arrival. She nodded and jogged up the step to them, then bowed low to Hitomi.

"Lady Hitomi Kanzaki, I presume?"

Hitomi nodded and Naria sniffed at the young woman, "We have it under control Raphina."

"Yes I know, I just came to greet our new guest," Raphina gave Hitomi a warm smile, which the girl returned. "I hope that you've been treated well."

"Yes, thank you." Hitomi looked up some at the woman. She was slightly shorter than the twins, but still elegant. Up close Hitomi could tell she was an agile person, the way she was standing betrayed the young woman's need to move at a moment's notice. Atherios screeched and Raphina stroked his neck.

"Hush you. Forgive him; he's still young and excited to see a new face. I hear you've spoken to Dune, I must apologize, he's always quiet busy –I'm sure you two will see each other soon enough."

Hitomi grinned, "Well I hope so; he was very kind to me."

"As I hope our prince was too."

"Lord Van was…." Hitomi tried to find the word to explain, without seeming rude, that he acted rather spoiled when she had first met him, and said with a smile, "polite."

Raphina frowned some, "I see; I'll have to speak to him about that."

"What? Why? I mean he was nice," Hitomi said flushing and wondering if she had said something wrong. Raphina smiled with a tricky twinkle in her eyes, and Hitomi knew she had read something in her tone of voice. _Nice going Hitomi_.

"Save your breath," Eriya smirked as Raphina lowered her brow to look at the cat woman. Eriya had her arms crossed, "he'll more likely want to ask you how Lord Folken found out about his little quest."

Raphina shrugged in a nonchalant way, which made Eriya twitch her tail.

"I suppose I'm going to have to meet out whatever he feels is a worthy punishment. Though in truth, he knows I was in the right."

"Ever so…" Eriya said and Naria cut her off.

"Balgus wants to see you first," Raphina nodded and the older twin added, "He's in the training room."

"Imagine that," Raphina chuckled. "Very well, I hope I will see you later Lady Hitomi. I'd like to learn more about your trip here."

"Of course," Hitomi nodded. _Doesn't everyone?_

Raphina gave her a smile then waved at the twins before she walked inside the large building. Once out of sight Naria motioned for Hitomi to follow her to Hitomi's guest room. Eriya on the other hand excused herself to go find Ruhm and have the chat he promised.

* * *

Raphina walked into the dark training room and found her father sitting on the floor before his sword. She approached quietly, and then pulled her sword to him, holding the point to his face. Balgus made no move, at which she quickly flipped the long thin rapier like rapier sword sideways so that the curved blade rested in her right hand. She presented it to Balgus, who looked up and nodded his head. Raphina sat, placing the sword before her, and looked down, resting her hands upon her knees.

"You called for me Father?"

Before the troops she always addressed him as Balgus, as all the other Generals did however in private she lost the formality and spoke as a child did to a parent. Balgus looked up at her.

"Why did you betray the King?"

She flinched; his voice was strict, but full of disappointment. She hated hearing the voice. He never yelled at her, but used this subtle art of making her feel guilty her for her actions. Raphina looked up.

"I did not betray the King, Father. I was merely doing what I felt was right at the time. You said yourself that I must take the initiative and make my own decisions, even if it is against your orders."

"That is when you're protecting Lord Folken, not when it comes to Prince Van's safety."

"Father, I…" she started then fell silent as he spoke to her.

"You gave him food, and a means to travel into the forest, something, which allowed him to endanger himself and others as well. As a Samurai of Fanilia you should know that it is your mission to protect the royalty. Your actions limited your ability to do that, and, in fact, your choices granted the exact opposite. Lord Van was attacked by a dragon, and could have been killed. That is not to mention the fact that he traveled to the Mystic moon, and could have endangered more than just the life of Lady Hitomi. Do you take responsibility for your actions and choices Lady Lafitte?"

Raphina looked down then up, "Sir, I don't feel that I did wrong. You said yourself that Prince Van was ready for the test."

"That is not my choice to make, it is up to Lord Folken, and he denied the Prince's request. You know that, and yet you willingly let him go. Do you, or do you not accept the responsibility for your actions."

He was watching her as Raphina's head dropped some. She knew it was futile to argue and nodded her head.

"Yes, I do." She said in a soft voice. Balgus nodded.

"Then you will be stationed at the as a guard to the crowd, and will not be participating in the festivities this evening."

Raphina nodded slowly and bowed her head low, "Yes Father. I understand."

* * *

An hour or so later, Folken found himself watching his arm and Generals in maneuvers. His mind was back on the meeting he'd just gotten out of with a guest from Zaibach. The young man had called himself Dilandau, but Folken didn't believe it. The man that stood before him looked nothing at all like the descriptions of Dilandau. This young man had dark black hair and cool violet eyes. He held the haughty attitude, but something in the way he spoke told Folken that he was probably a subordinate acting for the Stratigo and Dilandau himself.

The young man had come with gifts, money and fine silks, which he had laid before Folken who scowled.

"So you are Lord Dilandau?"

The young man rose and smiled. He was dressed all in black with long blue cloak, and waved his had to fix some of his hair.

"That is correct, and I've come to offer you gifts Your Majesty, which I hope you will accept."

Folken looked down at the gifts and at the five men that were his council. Each was eyeing the gifts with various degrees of covetous. Folken picked up the silk and examined it.

"And what has prompted Zaibach to offer such gifts to such a small kingdom?"

The false Dilandau grinned, "Why simply our hope to make an alliance with your kind kingdom, Lord Folken. We offer in exchange for your help, these gifts of money and technology. As you can see that cloth is some of the finest ever woven?"

Folken agreed that it was a fine bit of cloth but he smiled sweetly, "But what could my people use with such cloth? We're humble people that enjoy our traditions, and can certainly make do with the cloth that we make here. Besides we trade with the Wolf Tribe, and knowing Zaibach, you would only insist upon us buying our goods with you. Am I not right?"

Dilandau the false frowned.

"You speak too quickly, Lord Folken. We can certainly protect you."

Folken scowled, he realized that this was no mere gift, it was a bribe. He dropped the cloth and walked over to the money. "What reason would you have to say that then, Lord Dilandau? Surely you don't think that anyone would attack our small kingdom. We are protected by the dragons, and have been for years. There is nothing here that anyone would want."

The fake Dilandau smiled again, "Oh I don't believe that, your grace."

Folken's frown intensified as the young man went on.

"In fact I believe you might be holding out on your fellow countries. Rumors have it that you have a weapon that could change the fate of the world. They say here it is revered as a god, but that in reality it is more than just an idol to be worshiped. The Ispano Guymelef. The white dragon, Escaflowne."

Folken suddenly kicked the sack of money at the young man, and the coins flew in the air raining on the guests from Zaibach. The young King glared as he knocked the cloth down the steps to his throne.

"Take your gold, and your cloth, and leave now before I have my guards personally remove you from my kingdom. The Escaflowne is nothing more than a myth, it's a Guymelef, just as any other Guymelef is. There is nothing extraordinary about it, and I will not stand here and allow you to make a mockery of my people's beliefs. Now leave."

Dilandau the fake glared hard at the young king, "How dare you insult us, we came here to offer you our alliance."

"At what price? My people's honor? Their lives? I have heard about how Zaibach operates, they take what they want and leave the people they swore to protect in poverty and death. They experiment on prisoners, and destroy towns for no other reason than to cover their own unjust actions. How can you think, for one second, that I would ever allow your kingdom to befriend mine? No, I will not take your bribes, and I will not allow you anywhere near our god. Now, I ask you once more, leave, or my men will remove you physically from this kingdom." Folken told him and the fake Dilandau grimaced deeply.

He snapped his fingers and the soldiers that were accompanying him bent down to collect the money that had been spilled. Dilandau hissed with narrowed eyes.

"Zaibach will not endure such insults from you, Lord Folken, the Straigo will not hear of your insubordination to her will."

Folken raised an eyebrow and smiled kindly, "Really, then do tell the Stratigo to come here herself so that I may inform her, as I have informed you, Dilandau, that Fanelia is not interested in an alliance with Zaibach."

"This is not over yet, Lord Folken Lacour de Fanel. Trust me in saying that you do not go around making demands of Zaibach." Dilandau growled and motioned to his men that they were leaving. The entourage turned and exited the great hall, as the council whispered behind Folken's back. Standing now over the balcony, Folken was still scowling. He worried his actions had made the city a target, but he wasn't going to stand there and allow Zaibach to bully him.

_Are they really willing to threaten us over the Escaflowne?_ His mind wandered off to Van who was practicing, and he worried that he'd endangered his little brother. Folken stiffened some when he felt someone move beside him, then relaxed some when he smelled the soft sent of lilies from the valley.

"Permission to speak freely, Sire," Raphina inquired and he nodded his head. She stood up and joined him at the railing, resting her head on her arms as he was. Raphina smiled watching him; standing like he was Folken resembled his younger brother in attitude.

"I saw the flowers; you kept your promise and then some."

Folken nodded, "I always keep my word, you know that."

"True, Dune."

He made a face and his cheeks turned a bit red as she smiled, and he rolled his eyes, realizing he was caught. "Don't, I just don't want her to know yet."

"Why? If you're sure she's the same girl then she'll know it was you," Raphina commented and watched the courtyard. Folken shrugged.

"And if she doesn't and she's not. I'm not going to embarrass her or Van that way," he stated. She smiled some and leaned on her arms, holding her head aloft.

"More likely to not to embarrass her and yourself."

Folken sighed, "Must you know me this well?"

She laughed, "Well considering we grew up together, I should know you Folken. But why use Dune, or are you just into funny names?"

"You don't remember who gave me that name?" he looked at her surprised, and she sighed lightly.

"I try to forget."

"And I don't want to," he said a bit sharply.

"That _angel_ isn't coming back, Folken, even I've moved on," She lied and he turned her to face him. Raphina stared back.

"You're lying," he said softly.

"And if I am? There's nothing that can change it…" She went quite when Naria came up on them and Folken released his lock on her fast.

"Naria?"

"She's done with her bath, and has settled into her room." Naria told him and looked at Folken. "Lord Folken, if this is the same girl that saved you, what are you going to tell her?"

He smiled, "I'll see if she remembers first. I don't want to traumatize her."

Naria nodded and wanted to ask why he'd been looking at Raphina, but the tension between the two made her decide to leave it be. Instead she commented on the festivities and secured at least a dance or two with the young king. Raphina shook her head.

"Don't make Eriya jealous."

"I can handle my sister."

"I'm sure you can," Raphina said with a slight smile. It was then that a guard came over and asked her to inspect the cavalry for that night's festivity. Raphina nodded, "I'll be right there."

She turned to Naria and Folken, "Sire, Lady Naria, if you'll excuse me, duty calls. Don't wear him out Naria."

Naria bristled some and Folken shook his head as she left. Looking down he watched as Gered, a guard lead out a large maroon melef dressed as a samurai down to its helmet. A large dragon skull was placed upon its skirt plate, and two green orbs glowed in the center of the shoulders. The robot, or mecha, wobbled as it walked, guided by the young man.

Asona opened the face plate of the robot and looked around as he spoke.

"There's nothing like a melef match. A man couldn't ask for more," he opened the body of the melef, unhooked the arms, and removed the straps. "There haven't been any wars lately so a joust does the soul good."

"You said it sir," Gered shouted up to him. Folken watched quietly from his perch.

"And a tournament before the King at the Prince's coronation…I can't wait!" Asona rolled his shoulder and grinned happily. A young officer called down to him.

"Don't push yourself sir, you're not as young as you used to be."

The others laughed as Asona shouted, "Nonsense, you shouldn't push your luck, after all skill trumps age."

There was more laughter, and Folken watched them with slightly furrowed brows, and then turned to leave. Naria, who had been smiling, looked over her shoulder and hurried to follow him.

"Sire…Lord Folken?"

He paused and looked back at the courtyard.

"Do you think that this peace is such a good thing?"

"What do you mean Lord Folken?" Naria asked him as they walked to an archway. She'd never heard him talk in such a way; Folken was one of the biggest advocates for peaceful resolutions to any in fighting among the smaller kingdoms. It was rather unnerving to hear him speak as if he was going back on his own beliefs.

"I mean is this the calm before the storm? Zaibach came today, and tried to bribe me to ally myself with them," Folken spoke in a soft voice. Though she showed no shock to her face, Naria shuddered inside. What would an Empire like Zaibach want with their tiny kingdom?

"What did they want, Sire?"

"The white dragon," Folken said softly, "I denied them, but I do think that it didn't help relations. You know how they are, when they want something…" Folken scowled, "Merchants have been saying that Zaibach has been more active than normal, and personally I don't trust them, Naria. I'm starting to wonder if a simple spark could enflame a great war."

He leaned against the archway and looked worried. "And if that happens, what will become of Fanelia?"

Folken gazed out at the distant cliffs. They could protect the kingdom from a land invasion, but against an air strike? He shuddered and turned to face Naria, "Naria, after the coronation, ask the generals to meet me in my room, we need a plan –just in case."

"Yes Sire, of course," she bowed and paused, as he got up to walk up the stairs. "Where are you going now?"

Folken smiled, "To see my guest, of course."

* * *

Down in the courtyard Raphina was in the middle of inspecting the cavalry and crossed her arms looking at the horsemen. She frowned and turned to Odeani, the leader of the troop.

"Odeani, what is the meaning of this?" she motioned to the fact that most of the armor was slack on her men and he saluted her.

"Ma'am, I am sorry, it's just that the men have been in maneuvers, and…"

"And nothing," she said her eyes narrowing. "I know that there's excitement, but we need to be at our best. The cavalry is the lightest troop here since it's the newest unit, as such we probably won't see much of combat, but I will not have my men die because we're not ready for some assault."

"Not like there's going to be one, we're more or less messenger boys." muttered a samurai. Raphina heard him and marched over, brow narrowed, eyes flashing.

"What was that officer? Do you think this is some sort of joke?"

"No…No Ma'am," he sputtered looking at the young woman, and her hawk screeched at him. "It's just that…well, you said yourself, we're still new, we don't even have enough troops to be called a unit, yet you expect us to behave as if we've been doing this for years."

"You have been doing this for years, officer!" Raphina told him. "You were in the ranks of the archers, were you not? In the Claw unit, am I correct?"

"Y-yes," he stammered.

"Well then, you should know the behavior for any officer of the Samurai. That includes this unit."

He nodded as she walked away and shook her head, "This is sad. I thought I knew my men, and what do I have here, a bunch of children playing the part of Samurai it seems. If any of the other Generals were to see you they would be disgusted."

She looked at Odeani, "Take your troop and I want them put to practice on maneuvers around the city. And when they get back, I want to see a troop of men ready to work, not a bunch of boys that transferred because they thought that this was going to be easy. Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am!" saluted Odeani, and, when she turned her back to him he gave his men an annoyed look for embarrassing him.

"You are dismissed," she said and glanced over her shoulder at an archway to the castle. Standing in the shadows watching was Prince Van. She gave the young man a nod, waiting till her troop had taken off and then made her way over to him.

"I take it that Balgus gave you a break?"

Van nodded as she approached him. He was watching the troops leave.

"Sire?"

Van looked up at her and said, "Did you have to be so harsh with them. They are trying."

"Trying is all well and good, but if they can't do what they're supposed to then people could be hurt. It's their job to be serious and lay their life down for the people of this kingdom. Would you say that the other units should just be trying to do their best? Or that they should do their best Van?"

He looked away, "I just think you're being a bit harsh."

"It's not my job to be kind."

"No, but you do seem to choose when you'll break your own rules," He looked at her and Raphina sighed.

"I take it that you're here to tell me off for reporting you missing?"

"No," Van said and looked at her regrettably. She paused, surprised by the sympathy in his voice, "I came here to say that I'm sorry for causing you to miss tonight's festivities. I heard some of the guards talking; you're going to have to be guarding the plaza."

She smiled sadly and nodded, "Yes, that is my punishment tonight, but please don't feel bad for me Van, it was partly worth it if it actually helped you."

He looked up at her and then looked down, "Helped me? Why would you want to after all the times I've been a jerk to you?"

"Because you're like a little brother to me, and as such, I'm going to do what I can to make you happy, even if it goes against my instinct to protect you. Though I have to say, you did scare even me when you vanished. I wouldn't suggest doing that again."

He laughed just a little and nodded, "Right. Well I should get back to Balgus."

"And I have to find Lessar to find out the plans for the Plaza and figure out where I'll be stationed." She said putting a hand on her hip, "Watch them put me near all the King's fan girls."

Van chuckled, "It would be your luck. I'll have Folken save you some food."

She smiled, "That would be delightful. Thank you, Prince Van."

Raphina gave him a curt bow, and waited till Van took his leave. She dropped her smile and looked out at the plaza then out at the gates, thinking about what Folken had done and subconsciously reached up and touched her face. Realizing what she was doing Raphina frowned and pulled her hand away and headed down the steps, trying to force her-self not to think about it.

* * *

In her room Hitomi finished dressing and sat by the window looking out at the cavalry unit. She directed her gaze to the sky and wondered. What am I doing here? The young woman closed her eyes and let daydreams engulf her. Yes it was a nice place but…images swam in her mind and she saw Yukari calling to her.

"Hitomi, Hey Hitomi, Kieko's looking for you! She wants you to do a tarot reading. Hitomi…"

The scene shifted from her friends red hair, transforming into cherry blossoms and she saw Amano as he stood on the track, smiling at her. Hitomi gazed at the gentle smile on his face and whispered his name.

"Oh Amano, I miss you…" she buried her head in her arms. A soft sound made Hitomi lift her head as a face framed by pink hair dropped in front of hers. Hitomi yelped knocking back her chair, as Merle stared at her.

"Hey have you ever heard of using the door?" Hitomi asked as the cat girl landed on the window ledge. Hitomi watched Merle as she glared at the young woman and started to lick her hand like a cat. Hitomi felt slightly repulsed, it –she –was really weird. Why was this cat girl staring at her like she had something on her face? The silence was infuriating and Hitomi finally asked, "Yeah, well what?"

Merle paused in her bath and looked over with cool eyes, "Just don't get too familiar with him. You got me?"

"What?" Hitomi blinked. What on earth is she talking about?

"I'm telling you to stay away from Prince Van," Merle said glaring at Hitomi and her tail twitched in a rhythmic way. "Don't pretend that you don't understand. I don't want a foreigner like you getting too close to him. Got it?"

Hitomi stared at the cat girl as she jumped into the room, bewildered. Was this girl jealous of her? But why? She didn't even really know Van at all. Besides she loved Amano, what was this girl's problem?

"I really don't know what you're talking about. Who's saying I'm getting to close to him?" Hitomi asked her as Merle looked around the room, ignoring her. "I don't even know him; you really don't know what you're talking about."

Merle paused when she spotted Hitomi's bag, and grinned, a cat like smirk on her young face. "Hummm." Hitomi watched her go over to the bag and wiggle her fingers. She finally got what was going on and shouted.

"Oh no you don't!" Hitomi hurried over, but was hit in the face by a shirt. Bras and underwear, books and makeup, a fashion magazine and homework, went flying out.

"Man, you sure have a lot of junk," Merle said as she examined a lipstick container before dumping it aside. Hitomi picked up what she could and leaned over the cat girl.

"Hey! Come on, cut that out. Damn it, leave my stuff alone." she insisted allowing her pendent to hang from her neck. Merle turned to look at her and saw the pink stone. With a devilish grin she snatched it and Hitomi gave a yelp.

Merle swung it and watched the pendent tick. "That's a pretty stone." She tossed it in the air and caught it in her hand. "I think I'll keep it."

Hitomi's mouth dropped as Merle ran out of her room.

"Hey where do you think you're going?!" Hitomi dumped her things on the bed and took off running after Merle. Outside Lynette heard the shouting and chuckled.

"Cat's at it again."

Hitomi raced after Merle, who clearly knew the castle better, shouting at her as she ran. "Come back here you little cat burglar!"

Merle just laughed thinking it was a merry chase. She'd show this girl that Lord Van only needed her to be close to. Hitomi moved swiftly along the corridors calling after Merle.

"I'll teach you not to mess with an Athlete!"

She navigated around a corner, chasing down the pink haired felon, and headed past an open door. Inside Hitomi glanced the shadows of two figures moving. "Come back!"

Hitomi paused and backed up. _Wait what's that?_ She looked inside and stared, _huh?_ Van was standing with his sword drawn, dark eyes fixed on the Samurai Balgus who was shirtless. Hitomi noticed the many scars over his body and she winced wondering how he had gotten them.

* * *

At the same time Merle called out, not realizing that Hitomi had stopped following, "Man for an Athlete you sure are slow!"

Merle glanced back just then and saw Hitomi wasn't behind her anymore. "Huh? Where'd she –ow!"

She tumbled back some running into someone's legs. Looking up the young cat girl saw Folken tilt his head some to look down at her, hands on his hips, almost amused.

"And where are you headed in such a hurry?" He inquired. Merle smiled up sheepishly as he assisted her to her feet.

"Nowhere, I was just playing with Hitomi, but I think she got lost."

"Oh, did she?" Folken asked her and noticed the pendent around Merle's neck. "My, what a pretty looking pendent, Merle; May I see it?"

"Um…." She held it out to him as Folken examined it.

"It's quite nice, where did you get it?"

"Oh, um, Lord Van gave it to me," she smiled. He nodded.

"Is that so? Van didn't mention this to me. You wouldn't have happened to have taken this from Hitomi, would you have Merle?"

"Wha…uh…nooo…" she sweat dropped as he smiled sweetly at her.

"Well then you're okay with me asking her about it."

Merle grumbled realizing she was caught. Folken picked her up off the floor when she slumped down pouting. He chuckled, "Come on cat thief, you are returning this."

* * *

Hitomi stood watching the clash before her eyes. Van charged screaming, Balgus, eyes closed, suddenly opened them and blocked. Sparks flew, and Van grunted as he was pushed back by the taller man. Balgus frowned as he shoved Van back, and crossed his arms.

"You're not charging aggressively, Lord Van. You have to come at me as if you mean to kill me."

Van sighed and Hitomi noticed the sad look in his face as he spoke, "I know, I just don't like…mortal sword combat."

Hitomi did not notice Folken or Merle as they came over. Merle sat on the floor as Folken listened, he was glad to hear of Van's dislike of combat. People thought it made Van weak to not enjoy fighting –Folken thought it made him braver then most to have the courage to find another way.

"Stop Lord Van, it is a poor thing for a young man about to become crowned Prince to hold such weak sentiments." Balgus was saying. Folken scowled, he'd have to talk to Balgus about his comments. If there was anything that they clashed on, it was this very subject. Folken had always felt it was wrong to put such pressure on Van. He recalled hearing the same thing from Balgus when he was training. Fighting and standing strong. Folken had hoped that there would be a day when there was a way to stand strong without fighting.

"It's not like I ever intended to become crowned Prince. I just wanted Folken to stop treating me like I'm a child. I don't see the point…" Van said.

"Lord Van!" Balgus scowled.

Van was going to say something when Hitomi squeaked the floor board. Balgus looked up and paused, "It seems we have visitors."

Hitomi blinked and stepped out looking rather embarrassed. She bowed, "I –I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you."

Van looked over, and covered a small smile quickly with a haughty attitude.

"Oh, it's just you."

"Yeah –uh…" Hitomi was saying when Folken put a hand on her shoulder, and smiled at his brother, who barely made a visible flush.

"That's an odd greeting to your guest, Lord Van."

"Dune?" Hitomi asked. "What are you...?"

"I came to watch the young Prince at work," Folken replied giving her a gentle smile. He looked back at Van. "Though I'm a bit surprised you're practicing now, your grace."

_Folken what are you...?_ Van wondered as Folken went on.

"The King will be very proud to hear your statement, Lord Van. It takes courage to go against the traditional view of combat," Folken said. "But then again he's always proud of you."

Hitomi watched the two young men as Dune walked over to Van. Standing together they looked like brothers, but that couldn't be true because Van's brother was the king and Dune was his serf. Wasn't he?

"Hey don't you know it's rude to stare?" Merle asked and Hitomi looked back and down. Merle had her eyes closed and her arms folded. "That's the problem with you foreigners. You have no manners."

"What…" Hitomi started as Merle stood up and held out the pendent to her. She smirked at Hitomi and Hitomi frowned, "Hey, Cat girl, give me back my pendent."

"Here, I didn't really want it anyway," Merle said shoving it back at Hitomi.

"You little…" Hitomi glared at her as Merle skipped over to Van and Dune.

"I'm here Lord Van," Merle shouted and hugged Van around his stomach, her tail wagging. Van glanced at her, then at Hitomi, as Folken shook his head lightly. Balgus looked at Hitomi and came over by her.

"I'm sorry if I was spying on you. I really didn't intend to snoop." Hitomi bowed to him and Balgus smiled.

"It's perfectly alright. I see that you've met King Folken already."

"King Folken?" Hitiomi asked and looked perplexed. Balgus nodded and she gave him an inquisitive look. "I'm not sure who you mean, Sir Balgus. The only people that I've met are Lady Naria and Eriya, and Lady Raphine, oh and Dune. I don't recall being introduced to the King."

Balgus glanced at Folken who was explaining to Van about some defense positions, and Hitomi followed his eyes as he stared at Folken. She gazed at him and her mouth opened some.

"He's…He's King Folken?"

Balgus nodded as Hitomi flushed some.

"I must have seemed really dumb to him. I thought his name was Dune." She watched Folken and Van. How could she have missed it? The cut of the hair, the shape of the eyes, even the way they swept their bangs out of their line of sight. There was no doubt they were brothers. She flushed a deeper red. _Any idiot can see it. _

"Excuse me," she bowed and bolted from the room. Or at least she attempted to, but Balgus gently blocked her from leaving.

"My Lady I'm sure he would not wish you to feel embarrassed by this," Balgus told her gently. She looked up as he smiled. It reminded her of the grandfathers she'd seen in the park playing horseshoes. "I've heard what happed. Prince Van owes you his life."

"Really, it's alright." She said as Folken came over. One glance at her told him that the jig was up.

"No it's not alright. You saved my brother. What you did was incredibly brave, Hitomi. Most wouldn't try to help in a dragon battle, but thanks to your quick actions Van is safe." He smiled at her a bit embarrassed for her finding out this way. "I wish to apologize for my misleading you. I didn't want you to act with phony politeness to me."

She nodded understanding and looked at Van who was talking to Merle, trying to pry her off him. Hitomi caught him insisting he was okay and to relax. She looked back at Folken unsure what to say. He smiled reading this in her face and chuckled, "You're welcome would work just fine."

"Oh," she nodded. "I…You're welcome, Your Highness."

"Folken," he corrected her and tipped up her chin. "I would rather you just call me Folken."

_We're old friends Hitomi; I don't want you to address me like a king,_ He thought as she nodded again staring at him and turning a slight pink. He grinned and let her go.

"After the coronation ceremony we will do all that we can in our power to return you safely home to the Mystic Moon." Folken told her, Hitomi looked at him brightly.

"Really? You can really do that?"

He rubbed his neck and gave a nod, "We'll certainly try our best."

"A samurai of Fanelia never lies," Balgus told her and let Folken know he intended to help. Folken gave him a grateful grin.

"Thank you, both of you." Hitomi bowed her head humbly when Merle shouted.

"Hey! No flirting with Lord Folken either!"

Hitomi blushed and Folken stiffened for just a second, then turned to look behind him smirking at Merle, saying, "And what makes you think she was the one flirting with me? I might have been the one flirting with her."

Hitomi turned red and Folken smiled. She wasn't sure if he was teasing or not.

* * *

High in the clouds the lone fortress floated near the cliffs of the valley. The woman with her long silver hair stroked a large white crane like bird that sat upon her dais. She was looking at the two young men that stood before her, the one with black hair was kneeling, and the one with silver hair seemed to be too cocky to bow. Both had on identical outfits of black, except the black haired boy had no crown upon his head.

She looked to the two young men, "Your report then Lord Dilandau, how did the reconnaissance work out?"

"Terribly," the silver haired one frowned and looked at the boy beside him with a scowl. The boy with black hair dropped his head a bit more, as Dilandau looked back to the woman. "Not only did this Folken refuse our offer, but he insulted Zaibach, and said that he would say the same thing to you if you came to see him."

The woman chuckled, "I take it that he did not like the offer at all," she looked at the other boy, "am I correct Viole?"

The boy nodded, "Yes, Stragios. He said that he won't ally Fanelia with Zaibach."

She smiled sadly and looked out the large windows of her room at the stars. "How very sad, he's still stubborn."

Viole nodded and Dilandau sulked sulked.

"So what are we going to do about it? They still have the white dragon."

She smiled, "That my dear Dilandau is where you will come in." The woman waved her hand to Viole. "You are dismissed Dragon Slayer."

"As you wish Stragios," he stood and glanced at his leader before leaving. Dilandau waited till he was gone before approaching the woman who now was coming down the platform from her chair. She walked over to the windows to look out.

"Such a peaceful place, don't you think Dilandau?"

The silver haired boy snorted, "Yes, if you like that sort of thing."

The woman chuckled some and pressed her hand to the glass, "So sad that you cannot enjoy the world of peace, Dilandau."

"Who says it's sad," he crossed his arms and tapped his foot. The woman approached him and wrapped her arms around him gently. For a second he stood stiffly, but when she stroked his forehead with her fingers, he relaxed against her and his voice became soft. "Whose fault is it that I can't appreciate such things Lady Sora?"

Sora smiled gently and let the young boy rest his head against her shoulder as she rubbed his back.

"In time things will be corrected, Dilandau. For now you must do your duty. I brought you here to keep you safe from them, remember." He nodded with a slight whimper, his eyes looking innocent and blue for a second. Suddenly they went back to red and he moved away from her, flushing annoyed.

"What do you think you were doing?"

She shrugged, "Relaxing you. Now as for our plans, I don't think Folken would just give up the white dragon without a fight. I give you authority to take it by force Dilandau. Stick to military targets though."

He nodded and she knew that he wouldn't obey her exact orders, "Right, so permission to burn the city?"

Sora thought a moment looking at the cliffs. People she knew lived there, they could die. But if it would make the wheels of fate turn, then it was a sacrifice she was willing to make. The will of the stars was what directed her.

"Permission granted."

* * *

Not so long after, deep in the forest outside of the great cliffs Ruhm was traveling along with his men. They'd covered a good distance since early that morning and now were headed home, with goods for their village.

The young wolf leader was thinking of his parting words to Eriya.

"Just stay on guard. There's been activity in the forest. The dragons are out and about, like they've been disturbed."

He didn't like leaving her there, she was strong, cunning, but no match for a guymelef if one attacked –or angered a dragon and it wound up attacking the city, it worried him.

His mind was still on her when he felt a change in the air around them and ordered his men to halt. They did so looking around as Ruhm smelled the air.

"Something's not right, I feel something strange in the air," he muttered feeling the vibrations from a vent somewhere. Ruhm cursed unsure where it was coming from. He sniffed the air again. "Something smells funny, but I don't see anything."

He was sure it was something large and mechanical, but was forced to shrug it off. Without proof he would worry his men for no reason, and he needed to keep them safe. Against machines their weapons were weak.

"Ruhm?" asked Unlah a younger pup, "What is it?"

Ruhm shook his head and forced himself to relax, "Nothing, just my imagination. Let's go, we need to be out of here before night fall."

The men nodded and headed away from the wooden city. What Ruhm did not know was that just above him in the trees, a glowing red orb appeared. It floated in the air on a long twisted pipe that extended down to a hidden body, and set its sights upon Fanalia in the green Valley below.


	8. Chapter 8: The Ruin of Fanelia

**AN****: Okay I admit it I had a rough two years so I had to stop writing, but as of this date and time I am going to make a valiant effort to finish this work since I adore the characters. Also in regard to Lynette she is connected to a character from Escaflowne, though never shown in the animated series, rather she was in the games. A brief note as well, her hair has been changed to blonde for various reasons. All chapters have been edited for small amounts of additional content. As always Escaflowne is owned by Bandai Visual, and Fox Entertainment.**

_Chapter 8: The Ruin of Fanelia (__Three of Swords__)_

The golden hue from the setting sun dipped low as it painted a radiant light over the city of Fanelia. Citizens bustled about closing up their shops and getting stalls ready for patrons at the festival. Men rushed about carting in old fallen trees, as per their King's request to not chop down living trees if possible, for use in a grand bond fire that would light up the night sky in celebration.

"Hey where do you want these?" a driver, who had several large pieces of wood from the forest in his cart, asked a guard who motioned to the large construct that was going up where the fire would be lit.

"Right there," the guard grinned, "It's nice to have so many people excited, gives energy to the place you know."

"You said it," laughed the driver as he urged his mount forward with their supply, "Can't wait to see the Prince and the King. This is going to be a festival that will be talked about for a long time."

There was a great sense of hope that swelled among the people as they worked. Cheerful voices greeted one another as the final preparations were being made, and, there was no doubt in the minds of the Fanelians, that today would be a day to be remembered. Banners of the nation's flag were hung, along with multi-colored flags and ornaments made of paper. Music was being played as people hung painted signs that gave cheer for Prince Van and King Folken; some were even dancing in the streets. The merriment traveled into the castle itself where the servants and samurai were laughing and chattering about the events.

"Tonight we're going to feast and dance. I can't wait to see if Luva will actually do that old jig that he said he was good at when he was a boy," Laughed one guard to another as they were walking past Hitomi's room. The young woman glanced out after they had passed and sighed. She didn't want to be seen in the dress that the maid Terasa had brought her. While it was a pretty outfit of purple and white, it just didn't feel right, and she didn't want to offend the woman by taking it off while she was in the room.

"Here, I'll just wash these old things," Terasa had offered, taking the school uniform from Hitomi's room and smiling brightly at the young girl. "You look like a princess in that, though…I suppose Lady Varie was built a bit differently then you are my dear, but nothing that can be done for that now. Just enjoy the dress."

With that the lady walked out and Hitomi had been at a loss for words. Though the gown was elegant, it was far too puffy for her taste. The skirt was too wide, and the sleeves were too long. Hitomi wondered how anyone could move in such a dress, she also wondered if Terasa had been playing a joke on her. Looking in the mirror that she had been Hitomi stared at her strange appearance. _There is no way I'm going to go out to this coronation dressed like this. I…I look like a puffed up doll; I have to get my clothing back._

Checking that the coast was clear Hitomi hiked up the skirts and hurried down the corridor, hoping to find out where Terasa had taken her uniform. She went up and down passageway after passage, searching and getting twisted around. Scowling she made her way down one particularly impressive hallway, the wood looked more expensive than it did in all the other corridors that she had used as did the lamps on the walls, Hitomi heard voices which were laughing and then heard a shout out in annoyance.

"I look so stupid in this, why do I even have to wear it?"

_That sounds like Van, _she thought as she edged her way over to a door and peeked in. Inside the room Lord Van Fanel was dressed in a huge black cape that covered all of his body, the shoulder pads alone looked like they would more befit a sumo wrestler then someone with Van's slighter frame. Though they didn't look heavy, since he was able to stand easily without wobbling, Hitomi figured, it was the helmet covering his head that made her eyes go wide. The helmet looked like something from an old German World War I movie. The helmet itself seemed like it was meant more for a man that was Balgus's size then a boy with a smaller head like Van's. Thick and powerful the helmet would have given the right touch of seriousness, but on Van it just looked like a boy playing with his Father's old armor, trying to be a knight. The strange sight made Hitomi laugh just a bit, and she noticed that Naria and Eriya were both inside the room with him. The gold haired woman was laughing so hard she was crying and clutching her stomach, the silver haired one was trying desperately to look serious but failing miserably. Merle was in there too, and seemed annoyed by her older counterparts' actions. She glared at them, her tail twitching back and forth.

"Come on now, quit it, Lord Van looks really good in that, don't you think so Lady Raphina?" Merle asked the woman who wasn't visible to Hitomi. There was a light chuckle coming from behind the wall as Raphina's voice rang out.

"He…looks…somewhat…decent." She apparently couldn't hold it in because there came a new wave of laughter from the three older women, and Hitomi saw Van step down and say in a dejected tone of voice.

"Laugh all you want, I'm changing and I'm not wearing this."

"Prince Van, wait, we're sorry," Hitomi heard Naria say as she slipped past the door and wandered around a bit more. She twisted handles to see if any of the doors opened to a stair way that could take her down to the lower levels, but all the doors were locked save for two. One opened to a small room that had dust on the dressers and items that lay on it, except for a simple carved wooden box. Hitomi assumed that it was the room of one of the twins, Merle's or Raphina's, the next one that was unlocked was a large room that had an expensive looking bed and a set of hand carved white wood dressers. Hitomi exclaimed softly when she took in the whole of the room. With its lush woven rug and the soft silk like covers she figured that this had to be the King's room. But, what made her wonder if it really was his room was the fact that in the corner near a window was a woman's vanity. On it, lying neatly was an old hair brush made of what appeared to be ivory. It was odd, to Hitomi, that a King would have a woman's hair brush and vanity.

"I wonder whose room this is," Hitomi was saying as she felt herself being drawn towards the vanity, and reached her hand out to pick up the hair brush.

"What are you doing in here?" a familiar voice said and Hitomi nearly jumped. She looked into the mirror to see Van leaning against the door frame, clearly not happy with her being in there. Turning around to face him Hitomi saw his arms were crossed across his chest, along with his legs, and he glared at her from under dark bangs.

"Oh, ah, Van! I didn't know you were…" she hesitated, saying that she was watching him in the strange cape and helmet did not seem like the smartest idea at the moment, considering the fact that he wasn't happy already by the looks of it. "Sorry."

She folded her hands before her as he spoke.

"Why are you wearing that dress?"

"Oh, Teresa gave it to me. She said I should wear it." Hitomi looked embarrassed and Van snorted.

"And you listened to her? You really are a dope you know," he sighed, "But I suppose that's how all girls from the Mystic Moon are."

"Hey!" Hitomi scowled some. "What do you mean by that?! She was saying she was going to wash my uniform."

"And you believed her?" He looked surprised. Hitomi hesitated again as he started to laugh.

"Well, yeah, I mean…why wouldn't she do that? She said this was your Mother's dress."

"Oh it is, but she never wore it, she disliked that, but kept it since it was a gift from another kingdom," Van explained and smirked some in a superior way. "Terasa probably only gave it to you so you would look silly. A few of the maids aren't happy with the fact that you're already in the favor of the King, and well, mine too." He paused and looked away, "Sorry about that."

Hitomi sighed, "I knew it." She shook her head and smiled. "It's okay and it's not your fault. I guess it must be a bit upsetting to them having me show up and just start hanging around the two of you."

"In a way, I suppose," Van looked suddenly nervous and cleared his throat glancing away from her again. "Anyway, I'll go see if I can get your cloths back. Wait for me in your room."

"Oh ah, how do I get back there from here?" she asked and he sighed.

"You really are hopeless."

"Am not," Hitomi retorted back as he lead her out of the room and down the hall. "I just don't know this place very well."

"Well you should learn it."

"But it's not like I'm going to stay here," she countered and noticed that he hesitated at this. Van's head went a bit down then he raised it again as he nodded.

"Yeah."

They walked in silence the rest of the way to her room. Van keeping a slight distance from her and putting his hands in his pockets, Hitomi clenching her hands around the skirt's material, all the while neither quiet knowing how to start up the conversation again until they came to her room. Van opened her door and nodded, "Just wait here and don't go wandering around again. The coronation is going to start soon, and I need to get ready."

"Oh, okay," Hitomi nodded slightly as she walked by him. He glanced at her and then asked.

"Why were you in that room anyway?"

"I…I was looking for a set of stairs to go down, and it was unlocked."

"Unlocked?" Van looked a bit unnerved by this, and then figured that it was probably just Folken forgetting to lock the room again. He shook his head, "Fine. But don't go into that room again."

"What's wrong with that room?" She asked curiously as he started to shut the door.

"It's my parent's room."

With that he shut the door and hurried off to find her clothing.

* * *

"Troubled, your grace?" the High Priest asked as Folken knelt before the three tombs in the shrine. Dressed in a rich purple and black robe, with a long purple sash that wrapped around from his left to right arm, Folken looked the part of a perfect King. He had his eyes closed as the man entered and opened them after bowing his head and standing, turning to face the Priest he waited till the man had finished subjecting himself to him before speaking.

"No, not entirely, I was simply talking to Mother and Father," he tilted his head curiously, "Why do you ask?"

"No reason, you just looked a bit perturbed," admitted the elder man as he approached the young king. The wizened High Priest knelt before the tombs, and said a silent prayer before standing and speaking again to Folken. "You know your Father would have been very proud to see your brother pass this trial."

"Would he have," Folken intoned not believing a word of it. His father was a man that objected to traditions, and Folken had tried to rule in the same way. It was not an easy task given the power of the religious officials over the beliefs of the people. But, he still wanted to give the people a chance to be governed by their own free will rather than by the traditionalist faction.

"Yes indeed," the older man gave a nod looking very pleased. "You should be proud yourself. After all you went through the same trial and look how it turned out."

Folken glared at the man, "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing at all Your Highness, just that your brother came out unscathed because he showed great courage," said the Priest. Folken looked away scowling. He knew what this man meant and distrusted him. There had been talk among the council of ousting the King and placing the Prince in his place. A young boy would be far easier to order around than a grown man, and Folken would have none of it. Once this coordination was over and done with he was going to have the Council replaced with people that he trusted. Ones that weren't under the subjection of the religious leader and whom he knew could think about the world without superstitions.

"I see," Folken finally said after a long bout of silence, "He is a strong boy, and one that would not be easily used. I suggest you think about that Eminence."

With that he turned and walked down the steps of the tombs and out the doors, ignoring the heated glare of the High Priest.

* * *

Moving with a soft humming noise over the plains closer to Fanelia the floating fortress buzzed with activity. In her chamber Sora looked over the multitude of orbs that she had positioned around her seat, showing various scenes in Gaea, and had her eyes focused on four that showed Fanelia. She could see people gathering for a celebration and a twisted feeling came inside her.

_How can they possibly celebrate like this when they are about to be ruined? How can I just let this happen?_ She thought with a cold contemplation that most on the ship knew of. Everything had a reason, she had mused, and everything had to come about for the end result. If she had just let things be then no good would come of it, and things would not change. That was what he wished for, that was what she was working for. Change would come, a sweeping one, and if he was not ready for it, he would have to start changing as well.

Her fingers reached up to brush her crane on the neck and it gave a soft cry as she leaned back to rest. In mere hours the whole city would possibly be razed. Would there be time for the people to get out, or would they just fight. She scowled and muttered, "Hard headed, just like your King. People are such fools at times, to fight for a place that means nothing in the end. It is just land, they can make life anywhere, but yet they choose to stay there. How disheartening, isn't it Sidhed?"

The crane uttered a noise from the back of its throat and she smiled, "I concur with you my friend."

In the silence she heard the sharp hissing of the door to her chamber opening and saw, in an orb, the reflection of one of the Dragon Slayers bowing in the doorway. Sora nodded her head and waved her hand, "You may enter. What news do you bring?"

"Our scouts have secured a location from which to attack, the gates are, as you stated, not heavily fortified," the blonde boy said looking up at the woman. Sora gave a nod as he continued, "And the spy on the inside informed us that most of the town will be at a festival in honor of Prince Van."

Sora closed her eyes and smiled politely, "Good, then head in. I want the texts as well if you can manage it."

"The texts?" The boy seemed confused as she stood up and came down to face him.

"Yes, there are ancient texted that are within the castle, if you can retrieve those I would be most pleased," she expressed and gave him a haunting smile. The boy stared at her a moment, and nodded as if in a trance.

"As you command Stratigo," he bowed and walked out of the room. Sora turned quickly and hurried back to her chair, sat down and stared at the orb that represented Fanelia.

"Don't fail me Folken; I pray that you get the people out of there. Show me King, what you can do with what I have taught you."

* * *

"Are they going to have fireworks?" Merle asked as she followed Raphina through the crowds that gathered at the castle plaza. Raphina rubbed her brow as she let out a long heated sigh and put her hand on her hip.

"Yes, I'm sure they will, but would you please find a place to stay Merle, I have to keep counting," she said as kindly as she could adding under her breath, "and you are making me miss my count."

Once again she started up as Merle pouted, turned and scampered off to find a place to watch from. The crowds covered the whole of the plaza, and the young cat girl wondered if she was going to ever find a spot. Crossing her arms she moped some as she hopped up and down.

"Hey, I can't see, I want to see Lord Van dressed up too ya know," she growled and jumped up on a taller man's back then hopped up on a small outcropping to watch with some younger kids. The man shouted at her as she landed on the ledge.

"Hey watch it Merle!"

She stuck her tongue out and looked up at the castle to watch. Above the many people a select group of nobles and samurai had gathered. Hitomi, now dressed in her school uniform, that Van had managed to retrieve, stood beside Eriya who was near Balgus. The young woman looked around in wonder at the set up. Two rows of eight melefs were standing in attention on the left and right sides flanking the three main units of the Fanelian army. Yurizen's Claw army stood on the right in attention, their armor cleaned and shining splendidly in the dimming sunlight. To the left Asona's Horn army stood at the ready, just as splendid as the Claw army. Before Hitomi and the others was Luva's Tusk army, they were a bit dusty due to working more with the people in town to help set up festivities for after the coronation but also just as at the ready as the other two branches. Each army was set up in rows of five, and the samurai spaced apart exactly so that the nobles could peer between them and see what was happening.

In the center was a lush lavender tapestry that lay across the center court. The tapestry bore a blue flower with light pink inlay, and a darker blue outline of four pedals. Hitomi's eyes fell upon the figures at the front. In the center of everything was Van, dressed in the strange armor. Even though it still looked odd on him, Hitomi could tell there was a sense of honor that the young prince had now wearing it. Before him stood five people, the first being Folken who was dressed regally making Hitomi blush. He really looked like a King; there was no mistaking the aura around him at that moment. Standing nearby was Naria who was acting as body guard and holding the sword that Folken was going to use. Behind them, dressed in orange and black patterned robes were two ministers, and in the center behind Folken was an older man in purple, orange and black. He had a strange turban on his head, and Hitomi realized she must have been staring too long at him because Balgus's low voice whispered in her ear.

"That is the High Priest Mekesh and his two attendents. He is the head of the religion in Fanelia."

"Oh? Does Lord Folken like him?"

"No, he doesn't trust the man, and neither do I. He's always trying to push radical views about the role of Fanelia onto the people, he believes completely in isolating the kingdom, something that Folken does not wish."

Hitomi nodded, and watched quietly. _It must be really hard to be in his place. He seems so strong. _

Folken smiled at Van as the younger boy stood before him, "Ready for this?"

"As I can ever be," Van told him and Folken nodded, and then raised his voice.

"People of Fanelia, High Priest of the Temple of the White Dragon, I ask you humbly and bequest of you to give your honor and judgment upon this boy, Van Salazar de Fanel, Prince of Fanelia, son of Goau Fanel, former King of Fanelia," he looked out upon the people there and, after a pause stated, "If anyone here has reason for Van Salazar de Fanel to be judged against his wish to become Crowned Prince, speak now!"

When there was no response he continued and drew the sword from the scabbard. Van lowed his head as his brother went on in his rich booming voice, "Then, by the power as King, and the will of the White Dragon, I, Folken Lacour de Fanel, King of Fanelia, do here by bestow upon you the title of Crowned Prince of Fanelia, Van Salazar de Fanel." He placed the sword upon Van's right shoulder saying, "May you always serve Fanelia well with courage and honor," then to the left he said, "And may Fanelia always be a place of hope and strength in your heart."

Lifting the sword he placed it back in the scabbed and smiled, "Arise Crowned Prince Van Salazar de Fanel."

Van beamed and Hitomi wanted to cry. It was such a moving moment, she could tell that Folken wanted to embrace his brother, there was such pride and love in his eyes. No one could mistake that, in that moment, Folken wasn't a king, but a brother that had seen his younger brother take his first steps in becoming a grown up. The magic of the moment changed though when Folken moved aside and Naria handed the sword to the Priest. He took it in his hand and approached Van.

"Kneel, Lord Van," the Priest said and he did so. Folken glanced over at Hitomi and the others and gave them a smile as if to say, 'Only a few more moments and then he can relax.' Hitomi smiled some and Eriya, who was clearly happy to see that look, nodded. She had plans for that evening to at least get Folken alone for a little bit. Looking back at Van both young women watched as the Priest said a pray over Van, blessing him. Hitomi didn't understand it, but she figured that it was something that could only be understood by the people that believed. Van rose then and the Priest pulled the sword from the scabbard. Hitomi curiously gazed at the chappe, or rain guard, and saw a black and red crest that had a silver artistic dragon like design. The High Priest handed it over to him after shutting it in the scabbard and Van stood, grasping it in his hand.

"Van Fanel, Crowned Prince of Fanelia, I bestow upon thee this sword as proof of thy accession. Long may you reign."

The crowd erupted below, as the nobles and samurai cheered. Hitomi was sure that Van was ready to burst with a shout of joy. This was, after all, something that he had wanted. As she was clapping Hitomi heard Eriya say in a pleased tone.

"You did alright kid, you did alright."

* * *

Over by the main gates of the kingdom, two guards stood on watch. Both were slightly slacking off and chattering about the festivities, figuring that, once they were relieved from duty they would be able to go to the celebration.

"I'm really looking forward to tonight's party," said the first one with long hair as he leaned against the wooden pillar and gazed out at the dusty road to the mountains. "And the festivities should be good. I hear that there's going to be dancing."

"Yeah me too," said the second short haired one as he grinned, and rested his arm on the railing. "It's supposed to be a real blow out. You gonna try to talk to that girl?"

"Heh, you bet I am," the first bragged as the second yawned and gazed out into the distance. The sun's light was making it hard to see, but for a moment he saw strange wavy lines that looked like glass veils moving across the road horizontally. He blinked, wondering what the strange sight was.

"Hey what's that?" He said to the first who moved to look, the second rubbed his eyes and muttered, "Was that heat waves?"

"I'm not sure, what's up?" said the second as he peered out and saw nothing, "It's nothing, must have been imagined."

"But…" was all the second could get out as instantly a cannon with six openings appeared out of nowhere and blasted out three long liquid spikes which smashed into the watch tower and destroyed it in one blow. Then these same spikes contorted and became a three bladed fan saw that cut through the thick wooden gates, cracking them apart as they pulled out in the middle. The Zaibach Guymelefs covered themselves in their invisible cloaks and stomped into the city leaving crate like footprints in their wake.

The noise called other samurai over, some out of uniform, wielding spears to attack the enemy. The first ones at the scene set up a group of ten that monitored the action of the invisible enemy that had appeared. Confusion ruled thoughts as guards shouted out in fear.

"What's going on?" "What's happening?" "We're under attack by a demon!" "It's a demon?!"

"Hold back," shouted a guard named Oscar to whom another guard asked.

"What the…?! What's coming?!"

"Whatever it is, it's coming closer," Oscar said and then screamed out as he was smashed into the earth by the cloaked lead Melef. Dread took over the group as Samalt tried to quell the rising horror.

"It's a demon!" shouted a guard from the back. Samalt cringed, he knew this couldn't be such a thing and wouldn't let the men of the Cavalry unit look like fear mongered fools.

"Hold it right there, and stand your ground! Don't you dare to run away, are you samurai or not!" he shouted at them. In the distance at the castle people in the crowds watched as massive destruction occurred at the gates. Smoke kicked up casting gray filters over the setting sun that had moments before warmed the spirits of the people. Fear and horror raced through their veins as shock came over their bodies. Whispers spread like wild fire among the people.

"What's going on down there?" asked a merchant who started off from his perch at the attack. Another man piped in. "I see smoke, is it a fire?"

"Are we being attacked?" asked yet another man who held his wife close to him, as a woman cried out in fear. "It's an enemy attack!"

"But who would attack us," a man from the back asked as the voices started to sound like a sea of hushed babbling that electrified the people. As the tension rose the sound of clattering hooves came up the steps. Raphina who had been trying to calm the people rushed over as Odeani road up to the castle. His face was sweaty and there was a look of anger to his eyes as she came over.

"What happened? Where are the men?" Raphina asked him directly as he spoke out loudly to everyone.

"It's an attack; we're under siege by Zaibach. I need every able body man I can get, prepare yourself for battle," Odeani told them and the people gasped in terror. Raphina growled and turned to face the people stating with authority.

"We need to get the women and children to the mountains behind us, use the back roads to make your way from Fanelia, leave everything behind, there's no time to get things," She looked at Odeani. "Let General Balgus know what's happening, I'll alert the others to start filtering people out though the trail under the castle. Hurry!"

"Yes, of course!" he replied and then urged his mount on, calling out, "Let's go, clear the way!"

Raphina watched him ride up shouting a call to arms. As quickly as she could, she started to direct people towards the exits to the trail that lead into the mountains. Once the area near the steps had been cleared Raphina searched around for her men and soon discovered a few of the Calvary unit who had been assigned crowd patrol as well. "You there, round up the others and get the people to safety. Get them under the castle and through to the Western road. We need them in the mountains. Whatever's attacking won't go that far."

"Yes Sir," saluted the guards and they started to hurry over to people who were panicking. "Move it along, come on now, you don't have time to go back."

"And what of you Commander?" asked one of the younger samurai as he looked back over his shoulder. Raphina, who was already running for the stairs, motioned up to the top as she quickly said.

"I'm going to aid the Generals in battle, get word out to the other men."

Without waiting for comments, Raphina rushed away from the group, knowing the men were prepared for this sort of thing. After all they had drilled over and over evacuation from the city in the event of an attack. They were young, yes, and could be foolish at times, but they were able to work as a unit.

* * *

Above in the plaza the samurai were being dispatched as Odeani informed Balgus of the matter. He looked rather surprised at the information, "An invisible enemy?!"

"Yes General Balgus," Odeani informed him seriously. "They came in swiftly tearing open the gates and then smashing their way through the first division that were stationed there as protection. Sir, they crushed things in just walking and have strange weapons I've never seen before."

"Strange weapons?" Folken scowled as Odeani turned to him and nodded.

"Yes Sire, weapons that fire from a device which can rip apart the forest wood like it's nothing but parchment."

Folken cringed at hearing this and Balgus glanced at him as if to ask a question, but Folken spoke up first, "Balgus, we need to make sure that the people are being led to safety away from the fighting, at all costs."

"Already done Sire," Raphina said as she raced over to them and quickly explained, "I've already dispatched a squad to act as a guide for the people. They're taking the back roads into the mountains, I just hope we have enough time to get them there."

Folken gave a nod, "I'm sure that we will. Our main priority now is to keep the people safe. Raphina, fetch me some armor and…"

"I'm afraid not Highness," Folken turned and looked at Balgus as he spoke "Our priority now is that we will have to make sure that the King is protected as well. We need to keep these monsters at bay for as long as we can, invisible or not. Your safety comes first Lord Folken, as does your brothers."

He looked at his elite team, "Luva, Yurizen, Asona." -The three men hurried over to their commander- "Hold them off with your melefs, I'm counting on the three of you."

"Yes Sir," they said in unison before breaking off to dispatch orders to their units. Folken heard an explosion that echoed around, roaring like thunder, making him internally cower some. But on the outside, before the others, including Hitomi who was watching all of this, he seemed as serious as ever. Turning on his heels he started to walk away.

"Where are you going your highness," Balgus asked, a moment after Folken began to walk, "You need to get to safety."

Folken felt Balgus's strong hand clasp onto his shoulder and he scowled some, shrugging the man off.

"I know this Balgus, see to my brother first. There's something I need to retrieve from my study," Folken told him but winced as Balgus grabbed him by the arm this time and pulled him back over.

"Retrieve? Lord Folken, no there is no time for that! You must leave, and quickly!" He looked to the two leopard women, "Ladies Naria and Eriya, I need both of you to escort Lord Folken away from the castle at once. His safety is your duty."

"Yes of course," they bowed to Balgus and both women grasped Folken by the shoulders. Hitomi caught for a second a look in both their eyes, showing that their loyalty was only to the man that they now were holding, and knew that they weren't about to just led Folken out of the castle. However Folken seemed rather annoyed by Balgus.

"Balgus, I am not leaving without the texts. If they fall into the hands of Zaibach, then…the rest of Gaea will be in danger. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Lord Folken I do," the older General said in a tone that was cold and Hitomi shivered at it. Balgus, she could see now, was not a man to be trifled with, not even by the king himself. Folken looked enraged as Balgus stated, "But what _you_ seem to not understand is that a kingdom needs a king. If you are to die here, then Fanelia will fall. Your brother would have to take over the throne; I know you do not wish this. So, do not allow yourself to die here, and let it be not over ancient texts."

"I have no intention to die here Balgus," Folken told him. "But do not think that I will go peacefully."

Naria gave him a shove, and Folken was led away as Van hurried over from some guards that were trying to get him to depart. The king watched and then Hitomi saw him and the twins duck away from the samurais that were leading the nobles and High Priest from the castle. All around them units were being mobilized and Hitomi caught brief comments of orders being issued by Raphina to different groups.

"First Cavalry unit to the castle gates! I want the third squad to guard the Western Road, make sure you do not allow for _anyone_ to get past you!" She shouted to them. Hitomi felt her chest tighten. Would they all make it out alright? Should she tell someone of what Folken had done? She wasn't sure anymore and was scared, very scared. Whatever these things were they were destroying the city. Hitomi looked out from where she stood and saw clouds of dust rise up. Something inside her whispered that there was more to come, and images from her dream flittered in her mind's eye.

_Everything will be okay_, she willed herself to think. After all the Samurai were the best of the best, and the way that people spoke of the Generals, surely they could defeat whatever was out there. Her attention snapped back to Van and Balgus as she heard Van ask.

"What should I do Balgus?'

"I want you to take your guest, Lady Hitomi with you to the Shrine," Balgus informed him and Van had a perplexed look to his face.

"The Shrine?" He took off the helmet, "Why the Shrine?"

"Yes, Your Magesty, the Shrine. If it becomes necessary, or should it prove to be the only course of action, take the Escaflowne and flee," Balgus ordered him. Hitomi looked just as confused as Van did at that moment, mouthing the word he spoke at the same instant.

"Escaflowne?"

"Yes, the Escaflowne," Raphina said turning to face Van and looking at him seriously. She glanced at Balgus for a second before proceeding. "You remember the old stories that Folken read to you? Particularly the one associated with the Shrine?"

"Yes, what of them?" Van retorted back and Raphina huffed as she looked over her shoulder to see how far the attackers were.

"They are not all stories, Lord Van, Escaflowne is the white dragon. Hurry, you have what you need, just remember what the old texts said, and everything will make sense." Raphina told him and Van gave a curt nod as he turned to face Hitomi.

"Right, come on then," he pulled off his clunky cape as he grabbed Hitomi by the wrist and guided her at a fast jog with him to the Shrine. Watching them go Raphina turned to her Father and asked quickly.

"And what of me? Shall I help the Generals?"

"No, I want you to find the High Priest," he told her bluntly and scowled. "There is something that doesn't feel right, and I fear that that man may have betrayed us."

"You believe it's Zaibach?" she inquired shocked and he nodded.

"Yes, now hurry, take your melef and find him. I have no doubt that he may have tried to escape. Find him Lady Lafitte," Balgus ordered and Raphina bowed then hurried away as Balgus made his way for the steps of the castle to do battle once more, pulling out his sword.

* * *

Down below in the masses Merle tried to fight the wave of people that rushed from the castle to the Western road that led out of the castle and into the mountains to safety. As she clawed and pushed her way through she shouted out, "Lord Van! Lord Van! I'll stay with you and fight! I want to help too, Lord Van!"

"Merle, what are you doing?!" a woman shouted to her and grabbed the young cat girl by the waist to pull her along. "Come on, we have to get out of here! Let's go, before we die too!"

"But…Lord Van, wait…Please," Merle's pleas fell on deaf ears as she was pulled by the woman into the path that took them into the Mountains. At the same time Folken beat a quick pace up to his study followed along by the twins who looked worried.

"Lord Folken, I smell smoke, I think the castle is burning," Eriya noted as they turned a corner and raced up a rampart. Below Folken could see his brother running off with Hitomi and breathed a sigh of relief. Even if he didn't make it, he knew that Van would be safe. The smell of smoke grew thicker and Naria looked down to see that the homes near the castle were blazing. She gritted her teeth in anger at the scene. Their home, the place where they had found family and friends, was once more being taken from them by the humans. She felt her blood boil with anger, wishing that she could rush out and kill every last one of the enemies that were causing the devastation. But her mind focused on Folken as they ran, and she ordered herself to ignore everything except for keeping him safe.

"Sire, do you know where the book is?" Naria asked and he nodded.

"Yes, it's in a box that I have, we need to get the key though to open it," he told them as they dashed into the study and he quickly looked around for where the box would be. To his discontent there was already someone in the room and Folken sneered, "You."

The High Priest looked up and smiled some in a cruel way. He set down the box that he was holding and smirked.

"Ah, King Folken, a delight to see you, It seems you've caught me," Mekesh said as he approached Folken and pulled a knife. "Now I can't have you telling them that I helped set this up."

"You…You betrayed us to Zaibach! This is your home Mekesh!" Folken shouted and Mekesh nodded. He glared at Folken.

"Yes, this is my home, and I will not have it ruined by men like you. I will see to it that Fanelia is rebuilt, and the people will herald me as true ruler with your brother Van as my proxy. It will be a glorious time for Fanelia."

* * *

Outside in the city a war was raging. The screams of dying samurai could be heard all around as the Generals fought their best. The Zaibach Guymelefs ruthlessly attacked the Fanelian melefs one by one, killing each as they tried to defend against something they could not see. The men were stumped, because each time they thought they had a lock on the strange melefs, they would vanish and suddenly from what appeared to be a cannon floating in midair, would come a barrage of strange liquid like metal spikes that ripped into the armor plated bodies and crushed the pilot inside. The melefs would be thrown into walls, causing houses and buildings to collapse upon the samurai that were trying to fight on the ground.

Asona watched in horror as one by one his men fell to the attacker and he growled with anger as another one of his men was killed before him.

"Only a coward would strike from behind! Show yourself, Coward!" he screamed as he turned around to catch a glimpse of the fallen Luva. Shocked he retraced his action, twisting the opposite way to see his last manned melef be taken down by the enemy. Enraged he cried out, "Where are you, Bastard!"

Lunging at the spot where the enemy last attacked from he swung his weapon, only to be hit from behind by three of the deadly spikes. One rammed into his lower left side, severing his internal organs as it did so. The next cracked through his left shoulder, taking his arm with it, the last went through the right upper lung, causing him to spit up blood in the cockpit. Even as he died Asona gasped out, "Only a coward strikes from behind. I'm sorry I…can't die like this…"

However the enemy felt it was a fitting way to end it, and threw his dead melef to the ground before the troops that were on foot. One guard cried out to him, but received no response. At the same time Luva lay dying after being attacked and shouted out.

"Balgus, I'm sorry, Balgus. It's up to you." His last breath sighed out of the suit, and gave pause to one of the enemy who bowed his head inside his own guymelef, then turned and stared to hunt down the remaining forces. In that moment, near the castle Yurizen, realizing he was the last man standing, charged at one of the enemies, intending to stop it from coming after the castle. His actions were in vain as three spikes hit him in the chest and he cried out in pain before he died.

"I'm hit. I can't die like…" his words were cut off as he was unceremoniously tossed aside and the enemy started to move forward. Atop the steps Balgus readied himself for battle brandishing his melef slaying sword before his enemies.

* * *

In the Shrine Hitomi found herself in a moment of silence. The sounds of the fighting could not be heard in here and she wondered if she and Van were expected to wait things out. She stared at the doors and then at Van.

"What are we going to do?" She asked as he moved over to the tombs that his brother had been visiting earlier. She followed, not wanting to be left behind and watched as he knelt down before them. Hitomi took the moment to look around and examine the room they were in. Before her was a long wood carving that depicted two red eyes curved in by yellow inlays; The eyes moved down to a small yellow starburst on a red burst backdrop. Surrounding that burst was green lines and blue dots that curved down to meet with red lines that slipped down towards blue looking swirls that curve down into green again then yellow and red at the bottom surrounding a blue center piece that linked to a white line which turned into a circle that encased a blue cheerio. Above this strange white bulb was a blue river that attached to the red and yellow starburst.

_I wonder what it all means?_ Hitomi thought and then looked up again at a huge rock that was attached to the ceiling. Around this were ropes that looked a lot to her like the sort of ropes that were used to imprison spirits inside a natural object. Below this strange rock formation was what looked to be a turbine to her. The center was blue, while a silver circle below was decorated with green swirls and below that layer was a larger layer that was painted with orange outline triangles and red circles with orange outlines, which were spread about in a pattern. Between each triangle was a circle. Hitomi looked at this for a while then looked back at Van. He was still kneeling before the three tombs and she went over to read the plaque that was before the steps.

"Here lies the Royal family Fanel." Hitomi blinked and looked up at the three tombs. "Royal family, so…this is…"

"They're not really here, this is only a memorial," Van explained standing up and bowing his head. He looked at Hitomi and explained quickly, "The one on the right is for my Mother, the center is my Father, and the one of the left is for a woman name Sora."

"Sora?" Hitomi asked and Van nodded as he made his way over to the center of the turbine like structure. "Yes, she was like family to both Folken and me."

Hitomi went quiet then as Van looked up at the stone above his head, then pulled out the dragenergist that he had removed from the dragon before. Hitomi looked puzzled and thought. _That's from the dragon he killed the other day. But what's he going to do with it?_

She watched in surprise as Van took his new sword and lightly cut his thumb. It was just deep enough that blood could seep out, and he let it run into the energist in his hand. Taking this, he then raised it above his head and the pink orb began to glow. Looking on Hitomi watched as Van closed his eyes, concentrated, and spoke.

"I, Van Fanel, Crowned Prince of Fanelia, bind myself by blood pack to thee, Escaflowne. Thou sleeping dragon awake."

Hitomi thought that nothing had happened and Van for a moment looked concerned, however, much to her surprise and his relief the turbine began to spin and soon was producing a high wind that rattled the giant stone above. Hitomi's first thought was one of wondering if the rock should fall and crush Van, but to her amazement, the strange machine in the center produced blue lightning that shot up, and hit the stone above Van, shattering it like an egg. Cracks appeared and then out came the strangest looking mecha that Hitomi had ever seen. She knew that it was some sort of robot, or at least the equivalent to it, and she was reminded of her little brother who had made her watch all his giant robot shows.

_That's…That's from my dream. That's what I saw in my dream…how on earth…_, she thought watching is descend. The moment she locked eyes on its face visions rushed back to her. Two monstrous giants, one black and one white were battling it out before a rising sun. Swords were stabbed into the ground, and, as the robots clash, sparks fly from their weapons as they hit over and over again. Hitomi was only woken up as she heard Van gasp, after he moved back from the platform to allow Escaflowne to land. The strange mecha crouched down on one bended knee to the young prince and Van stared at it a moment before leaping up onto it's out stretched knee.

On the right side Hitomi made out a strange pink gem that was held like a flower in a lapel. Van moved to it, and seemed to stare at something that Hitomi could only guess was his own reflection. She wondered what he was going through at that moment. Van, for his part, had been mesmerized by the Escaflowne. Its size and its elegance; He never believed in the old tales about there really being a dragon in the stone egg that was sealed in the shrine. But here it was, kneeling before him, the great Ispano Guymelef, Escaflowne. He felt a surge of wonder as he stared at his reflection in the pink gem that was to be used as the heart of the creature.

Taking a breath he crossed his wrists before it, humbling, thinking, _Please, help me to help Fanelia. Help me to protect what's most precious to me. _With that he placed the dragenergist inside the heart and watched as it started to beat like a heart. In doing so Van moved back and found that the Guymelef was responding to his wish and it opened its cockpit for him with a loud whooshing sound as air from inside escaped.

"Yes, Good!" he said smiling and climbed in to the pilot seat. Hitomi stared at him, surprised, and rushed over calling out.

"Wait, what?" She stopped before the giant robot and called up to Van, "What are you going to do?!"

Van looked down at her from his perch and said seriously, "Fight them, with Escaflowne."

Then he shut the ship's doors and strapped himself inside.

* * *

Away from the Shrine Raphina dodged around various debris kicked by the enemies' guymelefs storming onto castle grounds. She was using Atherios to _see_ where they were, and calculated where they would walk next. Using this she rushed over the court yard, trying to ignore the screams of the dying men. There was nothing she could do. The samurai were already losing the battle, and, from what she saw with Atherios, the Generals were all dead. She had vomited at the sight of the carnage, but forced herself to run.

_Am I the only one left?_ She wondered as she made her way to the armory where the melefs were stored. Pushing open one door she breathed a sigh of relief, in the back away from the other melefs was a lone suit of armor. Unlike the other units it had lighter plating and was clearly used for training. Raphina grinned some as she pushed open the other door thinking, _Perfect, it's still here._

Hurrying over at a quick jog to the suit she jumped up onto the bent knee and climbed in. Strapping in, Raphina started up the system and then heard Atherios's cry. She looked up to see at waver of the stealth cloak near the door, and she pushed down hard on the throttle sending the training guymelef into a run, and smashing into the enemy. The lighter training melef made maneuvering easier, but gave her less protection, so she kept running even after she made hard contact with the larger cloaked melef. The sound that the crash produced echoed around the court yard, and she was rattled inside the cage of a cockpit.

_Damn it!_ Raphina cursed as the enemy got up and came after her, she danced away from it, the best she could and made a break for the castle. Sweat poured down her face and she felt sure that they were closing in on her. Running as fast as she could she used Atherios to see the cannon come out and turned a corner just as it fired off a round of the liquid spikes, barely missing her own death.

Raphina had the suit lean against a wall and wait in the corner as her pursuer searched around where she had been. Waiting a few moments she then urged her unit forward and began making her way for the King's study. She was sure that was where he was going to be. What she didn't know was that a standoff was already happening there.

* * *

Folken stared at Mekesh who held the knife before him. The young king gritted his teeth as the older man spoke.

"This kingdom has long had a weak ruler, one that has tried to change the will of the people to suit his own needs, but now it will have a strong and glorious ruler, one that can stand up for the kingdom and keep the holiness of the white dragon. He will rule under my just judgment, and the world will no longer bother with our tiny kingdom, Lord Folken."

"So you betrayed us to Zaibach for power," hissed Eirya. "You bastard!"

"It was not power, you disgusting creature," yelled Mekesh and Naria growled at him ready to lung. "It is for the white dragon. Creatures like you cannot understand."

"Hold your tongue Mekesh!" Folken ordered him and he scowled. How were they going to get the book? The sword was in Van's possession at the moment. He could try to overpower the old man, but he didn't want to risk wrecking the text. "Give me the box; it's of no use to you."

"Oh but it is, there is something inside it, is there not Lord Folken?" asked the Priest as he held the box closer to him. Folken glared as Mekesh stroked the box with his knife. "I had been trying to pry it open, but it seems it is locked. Would you care to open it?"

"I have no intention of doing so for you," Folken told him and heard a rumbling. Mekesh clearly heard it too and chuckled.

"A pity then, you will die here, Folken Lacour de Fanel!"

An explosion ripped the roof off the top of the castle and took the wall to the court yard out. Standing there was an invisible enemy and Folken felt his chest tighten. Had he lead his friends to their death? Mekesh turned to face the attacker and shouted joyfully.

"Zaibach, my ally and friend, I have procured for you a gift! Bring me to your Stratigo so that I may make a deal with them!"

_Damn it, I can't even get close to him,_ he was thinking when a streak of gold rushed past and Naria attacked the Priest. She slashed his arm with the knife and with her claws. Blood shot out from the man's veins, and poured over his arm. Gripped by pain he dropped the knife, which she picked up and slammed into his other arm, causing him to drop the book.

"Lord Folken," she cried out throwing it to him and ran as fast as she could as the enemy unit turned to unleash its spikes on the room. Mekesh howled in fear was killed as the room was torn apart while Folken and the twins ran from the collapsing study. Running down the hall, the trio heard the sounds of wood cracking and splintering behind them as the guymelef attacked.

"In here, hurry," he said shoving the twins into his room, just dodging a blast from the guymelef. Trying to catch his breath he checked on Naria asking, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Lord Folken," Naria smiled, "Just a bit winded."

"Eriya, look after her," he ordered as he went to the dresser and picked up the carved box that Van had given him. Opening the hidden slot he pulled out a key, and put the smaller box in his robe, then unlocked the larger box and removed a book of scrolls that had been bound tightly. Dropping the box he looked at the twins, and heard the sound of the melef smashing the walls behind them.

"Sire?" asked Eriya who looked scared. "Are we going to die?"

Folken wasn't sure what to say. After all he wasn't sure how to get out of the room. He went to his bed, and pulled out an old sword, the same one that he had once used in killing the dragon, and slashed at the wall, chopping into it. Eriya got the idea and hurried over to help, slicing at the wall with her claws.

"We don't have much time, but maybe if we can make a hole, you two can get out and take the book with you," Folken told her. Eriya was about to protest, but the look to his face told her that it would be in vain. She nodded and focused on slicing the wood that he had loosened. Blood started to come from her hands, but she still worked and just when they saw a hole of light, something came to block the small ray of hope that they had. Folken pulled her back as the sound of gears grinding behind the wall could be heard.

"Look out!" he shouted as a fist came smashing through the weakened wall. When the fist was pulled out, it left a huge hole. Folken had covered both the cat women and the three looked on in wonder at the training unit stood there, hands outstretched.

"Who," Folken was saying when the head opened and Raphina's face appeared covered in some blood from a cut that she had gotten when she collided earlier with the enemy guymelef.

"Lady Lafitte," Naria asked and Raphina shouted to them.

"Get on! Now, we don't have much time."

Folken nodded and helped Naria up along with Eryia and got them aboard as he climbed into the out stretched hands, while the twins held onto the back.

"Have you seen Van?" Folken asked her as Raphina shook her head, "No, but I'm heading for the Shrine right now, Balgus ordered him there."

"That's where he would be safest," Folken was saying when he heard Atherios cry out. He looked in the direction and saw the cannon come out from behind a stealth cloak.

"Move!" he ordered and Raphina dodged back as the cannon blast hit directly where they had been moments before. Raphina shut the top and ran in the direction of the shrine, but found the way blocked by debris from the destroyed castle.

"Crap," she cursed and noticed the shimmer from a second cloaked enemy. Looking between the two the only way out she surmised was up. "Hang on!"

"To what!" screamed the twins as they dug their claws into the melef's armored back as Raphina drove the training melef right at a pile of burning stone and wood. The twins on the back let out a howl as she pushed the melef's foot against the pile and then leapt up onto the remains of one tower. She used the bases and opened the head to talk to Folken.

"You need to get up on the back too. The glides in the back need to be opened."

"You're…are you thinking of jumping onto the mountain's side?" He asked her and she nodded.

"We don't have time to argue Lord Folken," she said and he glanced at the Shrine. So close, if he could make a break for it, he could get to Van, but he knew that the likely-hood of him actually arriving there uninjured was slim to none. He gritted his teeth and looked away.

"Do it. Van….he will make it. I know him, I'm sure of it."

Raphina nodded and allowed him to get to the back, and with his help and those of the twins she got the glide wings open. Snapped into position, Raphina made a running leap, and threw the melef at the mountain's side catching onto the rocky edifice. Clinging on, she rammed the fingers into the walls and started to go up the side slowly and deliberately, digging the feet into the stone and rock. Behind them Folken watched as the tower that they had escaped up onto was being demolished by the invisible enemy with unbridled rage. He turned his attention to the remains of his shattered kingdom and asked quietly.

"Why did this happen?"

* * *

In the Shrine Van had strapped in and pushed his hands into the sleeves in Escaflowne. He gripped the handles on the inside after slipping his fingers into the metallic gloves. He felt the energy inside the melef shudder to life and he closed his eyes connecting with the machine.

"Great, it's just like those old ancient texts said," Van said and pressed the pedel to set the melef into motion. Gears ground and he made the Ispano Guymelef stand up. With a determined grin he exclaimed, "I can work it, I can do this!"

_So that's…that's Escaflowne?_ Hitomi thought as she stood before him and Van opened the helmet to speak to her. He glared looking down at the young woman.

"What do you think you're doing? Go and hide!" He ordered her and Hitomi nodded turning to move to the back of the shrine. It was then that both heard the sound of the doors busting open and Hitomi turned fast as Van raised his head after shutting the trap door around his face. "There here!"

Pushing forward Van took a giant step with the Escaflowne, air escaped from the unit, sending Hitomi's skirt flying and she pushed it down watching in wonder at the actions. She gasped out as the white melef pulled it's sword from its back and the sword's blade grew in length after the catch was released. Hitomi ran up the steps to get out of the way of the battle that was sure to occur.

"Where are they? Where is it?" Hitomi asked searching the room. Her eyes moved swiftly and suddenly the cloak that to everyone else shielded the melefs vanished and let her see the enemy that had invaded the Shrine. Shouting loudly she pointed, "Van! To your left!"

"What?!" he cried out surprised and Hitomi cried out as the enemy attacked him with the cannon.

"Hey look out!"

Van turned fast, bringing his sword to block left as the enemy unleashed a devastating blow. The attack hit, but the sword took the brunt of the damage, and sent him crashing into a wall. Hitomi moved back terrified as Van sliced the strange liquid spikes off the cannon, sending them crashing to the ground. When they hit, the liquid metal burst into blue flames and burned across the stone floor. Van jumped back up and charged at the enemy.

"You're not getting away from me! You are….MINE!" he screamed as he sliced the cloak off the melef exposing the blue gray monster. Shocked by what he had discovered Van uttered aloud, "A Guymelef?!"

_It's the giant I saw in my dream…Oh no…_Hitomi thought as she watched the battle explode. Since being discovered the Zaibach guymelef decided it had little to lose, and transformed it's liquid metal into a twisted sword. Charging the two large mecha clashed sending sparks flying as Van deflected blows and showed that he was the better swordsman. He soon beat back the guymelef eventually chopping off the claw arm which burst into blue flames when it crashed to the ground. Hitomi felt a bit of hope in her heart, maybe they could get out of there. If Van was able to defend so well he could probably fight his way out. But then she saw another appear and turn to attack Van with its cannon.

_Oh no_, Hitomi thought and ran closer screaming, "Van, behind you!"

Van turned to see the attacker but was shocked when a roar exploded through the air. Flying through the air was the figure of a man that smashed sword first, into the melef. The beast fell back against a wall as the figure landed and brandished his sword. Hitomi blinked in amazement realizing that it was Balgus, and watched as the arm of the attacking melef fell off to the ground.

"Balgus," Hitomi gasped as he stood before her to protect her. Van stopped fighting as did the Zaibach enemy who was shocked to see his fellow fighter be attacked by the lone human.

"Balgus?!" Van shouted out as the man called to Van.

"Your Majesty! Take Lady Hitomi and get out of here while you can!"

"I won't turn my back on my enemy and run away!" Van shouted back to him as the young prince turned back to the fight he was in and beat at the Zaibach. Balgus and Hitomi cried out, pleading to Van to stop.

"Lord Van, don't be a fool!"

Van kept going slicing at the other melef paying no heed to the warnings, and found himself on the receiving end of the Zaibach's sword. Fear griped him and Van prepared himself to meet his end. When, once more, Balgus leapt up and attacked the enemy, ramming his sword in the face of the guymelef. The sword of the enemy had been up and ready to slice Van in two, and the young man scrambled back calling to his mentor.

"Lord Van, get out of here, Damnit!" Balgus shouted back as he twisted his sword in the face place of the enemy. Van gritted his teeth, realizing that the General was right and that he needed to flee bent down at Hitomi.

"Let's go," he reached out for her with the hand of the Escaflowne, "We're leaving, grab and hold on!"

Hitomi nodded and let him grab her up with his hand. Running outside Van stood in stark horror at the sight that greeted him. Fanelia was in ruins, burning and covered in blood from the fallen samurai. Hitomi looked around fearfully, tears coming into her eyes as she saw the dead form of Asona's guymelef before them. The sound behind them made Van turn back. He couldn't leave his mentor here, and called out to him.

"That's enough Balgus, Retreat!"

Even as he was calling out, Hitomi received a new vision and saw in an instant Balgus being killed by an enemy that appeared before Balgus. She shook her head and cried out, "Oh no…Balgus! Hey look out!"

Balgus turned to the side and was immediately hit by a dart from the newly arrived enemy. He didn't even cry out when hit, and flew off the other melef, then crashed unceremoniously to the ground.

"Balgus!" screamed Van as Hitomi echoed his cry with.

"Balgus No!"

The fallen samurai looked to his young master and raised his head, uttering through blood filled lips, "Your Majesty…Lord Van…take the Escaflowne and flee…and someday return…and rebuild Fanelia…find your brother and rebuild our native home, my Lord. Reunite the people of Fanelia…"

With his last breath, the man laid his head down near his fallen blade. Van whimpered in shock, shaking inside the cockpit and crying out. "Balgus! No!"

Terror gripped Hitomi as she looked at the scene and she began to shudder in horror. This wasn't happening, she had seen it, but it wasn't supposed to happen. What was she supposed to do? Had she been given that vision to stop it from happening? She felt sick, scared, and the wave of horror, guilt and grief was compounded by the arrival for four more enemies that seemed to appear from nowhere. They surrounded the Escaflowne's escape route and the dead body of Balgus. That was the last bit that Hitomi could take and she freaked out screaming in pain.

"No! No! NO!"

The sound caused Van to echo her pain with his own internal cry, but he had no time to react as her pendent glowed and the two were surrounded by the familiar white shaft of light. The light enveloped them and the enemy guymelef pilots watched in shock as the Escaflowne was spirited away into the sky.

* * *

Away from the raging fires and violence the people of Fanelia watched in astonishment as a brilliant white light exploded from the clouds and landed upon the sight where the Shrine was located. Merle pushed her way to the front to look out at the ruined city and cried out.

"I…I don't believe it…Lord Van! Lord Van!" she screamed after the light which blinked out. Not far from the glowing beam Raphina had gotten the trio up to the top of the mountain. Folken looked out at the sight and his jaw dropped as he thought.

_No not again,_ then as the light faded and disappeared and he trembled in anger. He could still feel his brother but unleashed a cry of anguish seeing the destruction of his city. The twins stared in horror as Raphina cried silently inside the guymelef, glad that no one could see her.

* * *

Hours later the group of guymelef pilots arrived back at the fortress carrying with them spoils from Fanelia. Sora had come down with Dilandau to see their return and she looked calm as they bowed down to her, presenting the remains of some of the guymelefs. She stared at the armor and nodded.

"Do you want us to return and burn the bodies?" Dilandau asked and she shook her head.

"No, the people of Fanelia will come back; they're just in hiding in the mountains."

"Then we should go in there and burn them out," Dilandau clenched his fist and she turned to look at him. He stared back, a bit unsure of what she was thinking, but scowled some when Sora spoke.

"No."

"No?" He questioned, "And why not."

"Because we do not need them; They have a right to bury their dead. Leave them be, you have a more important job." Sora told him and locked eyes, "Finding the white dragon."

He clenched his teeth as she went over to look at the mess and shook her head, "I see no texts like I asked."

One boy raised his head and looked down ashamed when he stepped forward to explain.

"The king…he managed to retrieve it after the Priest had been injured."

"I see, so King Folken is alive, as is Prince Van, interesting," she murmured and smiled. That meant so was the girl that had come. Yes the wheels were turning and she looked over the armor. "Take these to be studied by the Scientists."

"Yes Stratigo," said the unit of workers that had followed the Dragon Slayers in. They began to pick things up only stopping when one asked loudly, "What do you want us to do with this sword?"

"Sword?" Sora asked, blinking and moved over to look at the sword they had brought back. She hissed, seeing it was the one that Balgus carried with him. "That…that sword…"

Anger came into her normally cool eyes as she looked at the Dragon Slayers, and Dilandau looked at her curiously. He'd never seen her look angry before, and was rather interested to see what she did.

"Who brought this sword, I wish to know. Now," she commanded and the boys looked at one another nervously. A tall boy with brown hair stepped forward.

"It was I, Lady Sora," he raised his hand and she motioned to him to walk over. He did so and kneeled.

"Raise your head," she commanded, again he did so, but hesitated. Upon raising his head he caught a glimpse of the rage in her eyes as Sora pulled her hand back, then slapped him hard across the face, leaving three long cuts down his right cheek. The boy flinched as she glared at him darkly and let the blood on her nails drip to the floor. "Now, go back to the group."

Sora looked at Dilandau and motioned to the sword. "I want that placed in my chamber. You are free to see to your men and your guymelefs."

He nodded slowly as the others bowed to her as she made her way out of the room. Walking slowly she slipped into her chamber moments later to be greeted by Sidhed, who nuzzled her as he landed on her shoulder. Settling in her chair she shooed him to his perch, then covered her eyes with her hand, and let tears slip out quietly and uttered softly.

"Balgus…Father…I'm sorry. Forgive me."

_Authors Note: The three of swords means Sorrow, tears, separation and delay, reversed gives disorder, confusion, and care should be taken against loss_


	9. Chapter 9: The Lost and Forgotten

**AN: I'd like to begin by saying I'm sorry that this is such a late chapter. To be honest various things kept me from writing at all for about two years, so to those that have read and hopefully will read this story, please do enjoy. I don't know if there's still Escafans out there, but hopefully there are. Short notice: Lynette's first name is now Raphina due to discovering some factors about the Escaflowne game that I decided to use, other than that, not much else has changed. **

_**Copyright: As always Escaflowne is owned by Bandai Visual, and Fox Entertainment.**_

_Chapter 9: The Lost and Forgotten (Ten of Swords)_

In the smoking burning ruins of Fanelia the men of Zaibach marched. They dug through everything that was not flaming, and in some cases the Dragon Slayers cut into a house to see if there was anything there to scavenge before the flames consumed it. Once they had gotten what they could carry the troops were brought once more into the sanctuary of the floating fortress, and their Stratigo watched from the bridge as the homes were consumed in flame. The land below resembled a volcano and Sora wondered, in part, why something so horrible and destructive up close could look so painfully beautiful at a distance.

The tall glass windows collectively reminded her of a melef's visor, long panels of glass were broken into a pattern of sections by long pieces of metal that was dug into the rocky shell of the fortress. Before her the ship's captain stood at the ready to make orders, and the helms man, navigator, and the rest of the crew were calmly busying themselves as they moved through the smoke filled sky.

Not so long before she had insisted upon traveling down to the ground, and was deposited with some troops near the shrine, or what remained of it. These were men assigned to her as protection by the Empire and traveled with her wherever she went, though in Sora's mind at the moment there was little need of them. The dragons would not be drawn to the flame, they were quite creatures that simply wanted peace.

Walking up the remains of the steps to the shrine Sora felt her cloak shift from the hot wind made by the fires. She ignored the men with her, they wouldn't understand things. The boy that had brought her Balgus's sword had been brought to her again and she had, in her own way, gotten from him where the General now lay dead. It was the same spot that the light had come from. As Sora approached, her face was expressionless, and her men were worried that she may lash out. Her light steps were deliberately slow, she didn't want to see, but needed to. She didn't want to know, but she knew that they had to have a witness to his demise.

Sidhed nuzzled his mistress and in turn she patted his head, the crane could tell she was afraid to see him, afraid to know the truth, because if she didn't see him, if she didn't know the truth, then she could keep living in the lie that he got out, that he had dropped his sword and ran. Ran to save his life, but she knew he would never do that. He was one of the three great swordsmen of Gaea, men who strove to uphold a code; among that code was the idea of fighting for others to escape, even at the cost of their own life.

"Stratigo," one of the officers asked, since she had stopped just before they crested the final rise to see the landing before the shrine. "Is something wrong?"

Sidhed hissed at the officer who moved back as she turned slowly to him, "No. I am well. Wait for me at the bottom, this I must see alone."

The men bowed, turned on their heels and marched back down the steps to the lower area. Once they were away Sora quickly made a push up the final steps to the landing. There in the center she saw the body of Balgus, the man she had once called a Father, laying prone on the ground, dead. His face was twisted in such a way that it was clear to her he had been calling out to someone behind him. She knew what that had been, though who was piloting it was another story.

Bending down slowly she rolled him over and closed his eyes and mouth. Then positioned him in a more stately way and taking some of the debris to create a circle around his body. She had no cloak to cover him with, so instead she folded his arms and knelt down. Over the din of the crackling flames Sora looked at the body and swallowed.

"You should have left; I never thought you were going to be among those that died here. You, the man that saved me, the man that took me in, called me daughter, and loved me as a child. I never wanted you to be dragged into this, Father, Balgus, forgive me for what I do, but it must be done. This world is in need of change. Life must grow, people must learn, and the old ways need to be banished. You must have known that, you must have seen that. People like Mekesh have no place in this new world. The winds are shifting and the wheels have turned Father. I must do as it wills, you know this. I pray that you look down upon me and protect us both."

Closing her eyes Sora hummed to herself and then softly, hidden by the dark winds, her voice came alive with song. It was an old song, a simple one, long sung by her people in mourning, one that few remembered or cared to recall, but she knew she had to send him on his way in the only way she knew how.

_May the winds carry you humbly through the trees,_

_And the waters guide you to your path with ease. _

_May Gaea lovingly embrace your body in the ground,_

_Here you may rest and sleep sound. _

_Bright golden sun from above_

_Shine down on your son with your love. _

_Let the starlight guide you in the night_

_Let your spirit be alight. _

_Find peace good son of Gaea _

_For your wandering days are done _

_In the loving embrace of the winged goddess_

_May your soul find rest from the hard battles that it won. _

From her shoulder Sidhed gently nudged her neck, holding out for her a feather from his elegant body. Sora smiled, thanking him softly and bent over to place the feather upon Balgus's still form. Yet, as she reached down, a sharp gust of wind ripped it from her hand and sent it flying into the air. Sora watched as it tumbled and twisted flying off into the distance and Sidhed squawked loudly in disapproval.

The young woman pushed her hair back behind her ears and looked down at the body, "Even in death you reject me and my offering. If that is how you feel then that is how it will be; Rest well Father."

With that she rose and composed herself, then turned and quickly made her way back to her men and then back to the fortress. Overhead thunder rumbled and lighting struck not too far off, the rains would come and take away the fire and wash away the blood, Sora knew this. She also knew that in the light of day, when the world was quiet once more, the dragons would come from the woods slowly, and feast upon the remains.

* * *

It was the sound of giggles that caught Folken's attention as he lay under a tree. The ever green of the verdant forest was around him, warm sun casting shadows on his face as the leaves rustled above in the winds from the canyon. A dream, or a memory, he didn't know which, but he wanted it to last longer. Turning his head to the sound he saw his brother, Van, at the age of six rushing for him and he twisted just enough to keep his bandaged arm from falling victim to a massive amount of pain as the boy pounced on him.

Folken laughed as he enveloped the boy in tickles, causing the child to squeal in glee. From the distance he could make out the forms of the twins scampering after him. They'd only been in the city for six months but were finally breaking out of their shell; Merle was hot on their trails calling out to them, her small four-year-old form leaping up and down trying to keep up. As the three cats came closer he set Van down and gave the twins hugs and Van did the same for Merle telling her that she did a good job.

"Can we play Folken?" Naria asked and Eriya happily sat beside him swishing her tail.

"Of course you can play, we…" he paused when he heard familiar voices calling to him in the distance. Carefully sitting up, he placed Naria next to her sister –who looked confused – and Folken made his way down the slightly sloped hillside. At this distance he saw two faces that he ached to see. The first was a woman who's white-blonde hair looked like ribbons of spun silver in the sunlight as it danced on the breeze, her gray-blue eyes laughing as she walked beside the second woman. The first's white robe dress with blue and red designs around the collars fluttered in the summer air reminding him of the wings of a bird. Her smile lit up her face as she glanced at him, while the woman beside her seemed to be gazing off at the woods. The second woman was the night to the first woman's day. A long black tress as deep as a cloudy midnight sky hung down to her waist, the same color hair as his brothers, and a purple robe wrapped around her slight frame. Where once there was a sparkle of light, now darkness lingered in the recesses of her brown eyes. Her gate was slower than the blonde's and the younger woman slowed her pace as they walked.

"Sora…Mother…." Folken breathed out as he stared at them, but just as he got closer, something shifted. The green grass dried and lit on fire, smoke billowed around him and he gasped out as he saw them both burst into flames. Images of Mekesh laughing and then being crushed to death before his eyes played out, along with the rumbling sounds of explosions from battle that surrounded him. Folken felt like he was being swallowed in a sea of desolation and turned to call out to Van. Only the boy wasn't there and neither were the twins or Merle. He was alone and fear gripped him as he raced to find them through the blazing streets. Sweat from heat covered his face, blurring his vision, but still the young king pressed on, screaming out to his brother. To anyone that might hear him.

He told himself over and over that it was just a dream, no more, but still he could not wake from the nightmare, because he knew it to be true. Van was gone, spirited away once more by the light that had taken him once to the mystic moon, and Fanelia was destroyed, there was nothing left there but the dead. He clutched his throat as the smoke began to encase his lungs, squeezing them, and he dropped to his knees. Peering through the haze he saw a shadow figure of a woman in silhouette watching him. He held out his hand to her calling out, "Help me. Please! Sora!"

But she did nothing, not even lift a hand to him, she just stood there watching. Just when he felt sure that he would die and join his father, a voice cut through the calamity of his addled mind and called to him. "Prince…My prince, Lord Folken!"

A hand, young, warm, and welcoming, offered itself to him. He was unsure of who it was, but didn't hesitate and grasped it wondering if it was just a dream, or if some angel had saved him. The voice paused for a moment as he closed his eyes being embraced by a warm and welcoming light and then he heard the sound of rain as droplets hit him in the face. Folken gazed up into a dark craggy ceiling of a cave and slowly sat up. His head throbbed, and he coughed vigorously as the twins lay off in a corner huddled together sleeping, clinging to one another as they always had when they were scared.

Folken took a moment to look around, his brown eyes adjusting to the dim little light that came from the Mystic moon, which was shining through the thunderstorm outside. The cave was small and not deep, he'd explored it as a child with a few of the children that lived in the place once, before things had changed drastically for everyone, before Van's birth or even Merle coming to join them. Someone had created a pillow for his head from the remains of his cloak and had covered him with a cape. He knew who that someone had been, and got up carefully so as not to disturb the twins. Using the cape he covered them in turn, and went outside to find the training melef standing guard at the cave entrance along with the soaking form of Raphina, who was at attention clearly trying to stay awake.

"You know you don't need to stay there," he said softly and she didn't move. Folken sighed and came out to stand by her, and that made her shift some nervously.

"Sire you should be inside the cave, we don't know that the enemy is gone."

"They won't find us here," he told her as he let the rain wash away his night terror. That dream had been so vivid, so real, and yet he knew it had been a dream. A deep breath to calm his nerves, quiet, the sound of the water hitting the vegetation, he listened to it all and relaxed some. He knew in the morning there would be much to confront. His people, their homes were gone, razed by the fire that swept over Fanelia; they would have to go and find what they could so that they could survive, and then there was the task of finding his brother. So many things to do, so many obstacles to overcome, and guilt from his treatment of the fake Dilandau, maybe if he had been a bit nicer to him, or the removal earlier of the High Priest. So many ifs and perhaps slogged through his tired mind, that soon he sat down on the ground and leaned against Raphina, much to her surprise.

"Lord Folken?" she inquired softly and he glanced up at the blackened sky. Smoke and clouds mingled as they met, and he swallowed.

"How could I have missed it?" She glanced down at him, and carefully knelt beside him, mirroring his stance, but at the ready to spring if need be.

"Missed what, Folken?"

He looked down at the valley where his kingdom had been just hours before and rubbed the back of his neck, "Mekesh, the deal with Zaibach, how did I miss it Lynette?"

Raphina seemed to take a moment and stiffen at the name, but then let out a sigh, "It's been a long time since you called me that name. Why now?"

"A dream, I guess," he admitted and crossed his legs, resting his arms on his thighs. "Here, it doesn't seem right to call you by Raphina. There's no one that's going to comment on who you were connected to."

"I suppose," she said softly and ran a hand through her blonde hair before huffing. "You couldn't have known. There was no way to have; no one could have seen it coming."

"But I _should _have, that's my point." He scowled and stared out at the now dwindling flames as the water killed the fire below. "It was my job to protect the people from harm, both inside the country and out. Don't tell me otherwise."

Raphina ran her hand over her wet sleeve; her body still ached from the fighting, and the climbing. There would be more in the morning, the group needed to reach the top where the people were probably waiting for them. She wondered if they thought that the king was dead.

"It was, but…but it wasn't just your job. It was all of ours as well. We trusted Mekesh because he was one of ours. He gave us no reason to think that he would betray us," she took a side glance at Folken, who's bangs now were plastered to his forehead, and softly remarked, "But, the blame doesn't lie on your shoulders. It was his choice, his actions, and even if you knew, what more could you have done? You're people are still alive, because of them you still have a kingdom." Raphina sighed, "Bricks, lumber, and mortar are things that can be replaced. Lives cannot, and for the country to go on it needs a leader that is willing to lead them, even in the face of his own doubt."

Folken glanced at her and smiled, "You sound like your Father."

Raphina looked away and nodded, "Do you think…do you think he made it out?"

At this Folken grimaced, the likely hood was slim to none. Balgus wasn't the sort to run in the face of danger, he would have stayed and fought till the bitter end. The young king clenched his fist and shook his head. "I…don't know. But I…"his breath shook some as emotions welled in his throat. "But, I don't think he did. He wouldn't have left if he knew that he was the last resort to keeping us safe. He would give his life to keep you alive, to keep us all alive. That was what a Samurai does, Raphina."

She nodded, a gloom settled on her features, and her blue eyes blinked a few times to combat the tears that offered to seep out. Raphina wondered if she let them come would the rain wash them away and cleanse her of the guilty feeling she now felt. The Generals were gone, of that she was sure, and certainly most of the units were too, that left her Calvary, the lightest group, intact, and she knew that that they alone couldn't keep the people safe from the likes of Zaibach.

Instinctively she wrapped her fingers around her collar and squeezed it some, feeling the tension in her body flitter around. Again she glanced at Folken and decided that the silence was becoming too much for her. Thoughts drifted to the battle, seeing men fall, and the idea that there was no one left ate at her gut.

"You mentioned a dream?"

"Hummm?" he had shut his eyes, the rain slowing now, and the cold starting to seep into his limbs. Raphina tried again.

"You said you had a dream, it was why you mentioned my…"she looked embarrassed, "My other name."

Folken nodded slightly at this. He knew that she didn't like hearing her name; it was the name that her sister called her, the name she had been born with before Balgus had brought her and Sora with him to Fanelia. Back then, when they were younger, she answered to both names, but after his Mother vanished and her sister as well, she stopped using it, calling herself only by the name Balgus had given her as a child. Folken was among the few that knew her name, and was one of the only ones that she let use it. He had wanted her to react, it was why he had used it, and the dream had been an excuse.

"It was…odd. A nightmare really, people long dead visiting while Fanelia burned around me." Folken shook his head, "Probably my guilt for failing."

"You didn't fail, your people are safe." She pointed out and he acquiesced with a shrug. "What's more, we can rebuild."

"But that will take time, and money," he noted and sighed. "And we don't know if Zaibach will return….they wanted Escaflowne, Raphina."

She narrowed her eyes at this, "Why?"

"I don't know, but that's probably why they came here. That's why I needed the book." The book of scrolls was now hidden in in his robes, like the small box, and out of sight. "If they got that book then they could easily conquer every inch of land and create an empire that could eventually expand across the seas."

Raphina shuddered visibly at this idea. Zaibach was known for its strange expansions and it's willingness to destroy all in the nature of progress. Progress, it claimed, that was warranted in spite of other kingdoms rejecting the idea, or deciding when and how they progressed their own society. She looked at Folken with a worried expression on her face.

"What's in that book?"

"Something that I can share with no one, not even you." He stood up and walked over to the edge of the cliff to gaze down at the ruined city. The rain had all but stopped and now only smoke from charred tinder that once had been homes and buildings rose up to meet the quiet night sky. Folken took a moment to wonder what his father would have done. Would he have stayed and met the end, or would he too have been cowering with his family in a cave struggling with answers to questions that had not been asked yet.

A moment later Raphina joined him, standing just far enough as a samurai should, like they had just hours before upon his balcony. He turned to her and closed his eyes and mustered his thoughts into logical order. When he looked to her Raphina was meeting his gaze with one that was just as serious. They were trying to make things normal, a pattern that they could follow, something that would keep the people calm when they found them. An order of sorts, to lead them, to help them, and above all else give them hope and assurance that even though the city had fallen, their leaders had not.

"Tomorrow at dawn, I want you and some of your men to go down to the city. Scavenge what you can from what remains: food, water, clothing, the essentials for the people. We're going to need carts to carry things with, see if any survived. Oil and parts for the melef unit if you can, and see if you can find any items from the temple and shrine, they may bring the people hope knowing that not everything was taken from them."

"And the dead Sire?" She asked in a low tone of voice, her head bowed.

"Find who you can, take their armor and burn it. Bury them in a grave if you can, if not then you have my permission to build a pyre and burn them. See if there are any from the enemy that are dead, destroy the melefs, we can always have them rebuilt at some point, but we don't want them getting into the hands of the enemies." Folken told her and then added, "I'm going to come with you to see if anything remains from the castle."

"Sire I don't think that that is a good idea. You're people…" Raphina started and Folken cut in.

"My people need a King that has a good assessment of the situation, and," he paused and looked down again. "I want to see for myself just what those monsters did to my home."

"Yes, of course," she acknowledged and slowly rose up. The mystic moon was now out from behind the clouds and seemed to radiate down on Folken. His eyes were closed, and a look of reverence had come over his tired face, the youth in his fair features shone through, and in that moment Raphina noticed in his shadow the appearance of wings. She said nothing, but turned and headed back to her post to stand guard until the twins woke, or Folken returned to sleep.

* * *

By now the fortress was farther away from the city. It had flown over the major section and was now far off from the chared remains. Silence had taken over the land, save for the remains of the rain, which gently tapped now on the windows of the ship. However deep inside the bowels of the Zaibach Floating Fortress there was a flurry of activity.

In his throne room, or what he liked to consider his throne room, Dilandau held his court with his Dragon Slayers team. The room itself was an old unused bay for storage, but Sora had given it to him on the point that he keep it to himself and that if time came that it was needed he would willingly give up the room. Of course he had said that he would, which wasn't the complete truth, though he didn't know that she knew that, but only would give up a third of the space if the time came. However right at the moment all was well, well mostly, for him and he was in control.

Resting on his lion throne, a giant lion with a seat and holding a sword in his mouth, which had been taken from a colony city of Daedalus several years before and taken out of storage for him because he liked it, Dilandau leaned on his palm, crossed his legs and looked down annoyed at his company as two of his Slayers stood in attention beside him.

Before him, kneeling were two of his men, while the others looked on nervously as the young man spoke, "What are _these _two doing here? I thought I made it clear that I didn't want to see them."

"Sir," started the first one with brown hair, but the blonde boy to Dilandau's right snapped.

"Silence Dallet!"

Dallet lowered his head, mimicking the motion of the other boys that were kneeling before Dilandau. He knew that of the group that was there, only he and Shesta, a younger looking blonde boy, was going to get into trouble. He watched as Dilandau looked over them, his red eyes going from smirking to anger in a blink. Clearly he was unhappy and Dallet was sure that they would pay to make him happy again.

"As I was saying," the silver haired leader commented and sneered, "I'm to understand that you let those bumpkin samurai, an army of weaklings from a piddly little country, damage not one but two…_two_ …of my Alseides units?! And you expect me to just wave it off as an accident?!"

"Forgive us!" cried out Shesta and Dallet as the boy with brown hair and glasses brought up a question to them.

"How was it that you got them damaged?"

"Sir, we managed to get past four of the Generals that attacked us, but the man that was called Balgus, sir he…he was far too fast for us." Shesta said nervously and Dallet retorted.

"Not only that sir, but there was also a smaller training melef sir that attacked the castle and caused the units to have to back up, we were surprised after by this Balgus, as we weren't expecting a man out of a unit to attack us directly sir! We barely escaped our own deaths!"

Dilandau's eyes narrowed. Something had slipped past the radar, he would have to tell the Stratigo…eventually, but for now he'd keep it under his hat. No need for more bad news to travel her way and into the ears of the Emperor. Dilandau brought his finger to his mouth and bit down, it was annoying. Here he was, the best warrior with the most elite unit in Zaibach, and now his men were made to look like fools by an old man with a giant letter opener!

He stood and walked over to the kneeling group, beckoning Shesta and Dallet, "Step forward."

They rose up heads bowed, and moved towards him cowering some, as they should have been. With swift movements Dilandau's hand slapped hard across their faces sending them tumbling back with dark red welts upon their cheeks. Both boy's looked scared, and knelt down, as he spoke, "You had stealth cloaks! How could you go and let this happen? Are you trying to ruin my name _and_ reputation? Our unit is the most elite and I will not have it tarnished by idiots that can't follow orders!"

"Forgive us!" they pleaded again and Dilandau looked between them and his men. His face grew serious. They were his men, his family; he was hard on them because he needed to be. Needed them to be the best of the best, because if they weren't there would be others that would take their place and then they would be taken from him –taken to god knew where by the magicians. He didn't want that, didn't need that to happen. They were his responsibility, and if they failed then he looked bad, and it meant he could do nothing to keep them safe. Not even the word of the Stratigo could keep the vultures away.

"I'm going to only say this once, so remember it, and memorize it if you have to. I won't tolerate a couple of incompetents in my Dragon Slayers. Do you understand?!"

"Yes Sir," they echoed and moved back into formation. Dilandau nodded and the brown hair boy dismissed them. Once the Slayers were gone he proceeded to sit down upon the throne and glanced over at the blonde boy beside him.

"Gatti, what do you make of what Dallet said?"

"About?" the blonde boy echoed the question and Dilandau scowled.

"About a training melef busting into the castle, that wasn't one of our men." He sat forward and gripped the edge of the chair. "I need to think. It might not be important, but it might be. Did we do a full check on the grounds?"

"As best we could, the castle completely collapsed, so if anyone was in there, there was no way they could have survived." Gatti told him and tilted his head, "Permission to speak sir?"

"Granted," Dilandau waved his hand. Gatti was one of the few members of his team that he trusted with anything. He was his second in command, the one he could go to when a job needed doing. He was comfortable with the boy and let him talk when he had advice.

"Sir, about those texts the Stratigo wanted…"

"What about them? There of no importance to me," he waved it off. What the Stratigo wanted wasn't that important. After all it wasn't connected to the dragon; who cared about a bunch of old texts?

"I know, but I wonder sir, do you think that the Emperor knows about her wanting them?"

Dilandau blinked, "Huh?"

"Well, it just seems odd that she asked for them, but I've never seen them on any priority list that we've had, and well I was curious as to why she would want them."

At this Dilandau paused and closed his eyes. It was strange, though the Stratigo was a strange woman. She seemed to have the ability to manipulate things to her needs, right down to getting his men and even himself to do what she requested at times. It was, for lack of a better word, scary to him. Not being in control, not knowing why he felt safe around her, yet completely in danger at the same time. It frightened him, but he would never let it on to his men or to her. So he stood and shrugged it off.

"Who knows, she's weird. But let's keep that between us for now. We'll see what she does with it, and if it comes down to telling the Emperor we'll get word to him."

"Yes sir!" Gatti said and smiled. Just as Dilandau was going to make his way to his private quarters a messenger came in.

"Lord Dilandau, Stratigo wishes to see you at once, if you please."

He rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips, "What now? Can't it wait till morning?"

"Well no sir, she says it's important."

He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long deep sigh that resonated though the bay. "Fine! Tell her I'll be there in ten minutes, I need to at least get something to eat before I see her."

"Sir," the messenger bowed and added, "She said she'd meet you by walkway nine."

"Alright, I got it," Dilandau snapped. The messenger did an about face, not wanting to risk his ire and beat a hasty retreat from the room. Gatti and the other boy glanced at their commander and he motioned to them.

"C'mon, I need something in my stomach so I don't heave when I talk to her."

* * *

Morning light didn't come soon enough for Raphina as she mounted her training unit. She had sent Atherios, with a message, to Ruhm and the Arzas village asking for help and shelter for the kingdom as requested by Folken. This would be one of the longest times she had cut off her connection to her hawk, and it felt odd not feeling his energy mingling with hers.

Tired, cold and achy she still had her duties to preform, and she would do just that. Once inside the cockpit she waited for the twins and Folken to finish eating the small bit of food that they had discovered hidden in the unit. Someone had probably left it there for a lunch and forgotten to eat. They had thrown the meat away, not being sure how old it was, and instead down some greens, berries, bread and cheese which all appeared to be on the up and up.

It didn't take long for the trio to come out, Folken helped the twins to the back of the unit and then perched himself on the side. Slowly and carefully Raphina maneuvered to a rock face and dug the melef's hands and feet in. It was hard going, each movement had to be calculated for weight and balance, and it wasn't until the sun was peeking up over the ridge of the canyon walls that they made it to the top. Here they were greeted by screams of the people, then cheers when they saw it was their king, alive and safe.

Hugs and tears followed as the remainder of the Calvary unit rushed to Raphina to find out how she was and also word of the other units. It was with a heavy heart that she informed them that the Generals, including Balgus, were believed dead. The look on their faces said well what words could never express adequately. Families were searching for one another, and fires had been built so that they could made food. The few merchants that had taken items with them from their stalls had given the people some warmth and care in the night.

While Raphina worked on finding out who had escaped from other units, as there had turned out to be some men that had run rather than stand their grounds, Folken was busy with the twins getting a head count of the people.

"We're going to need a list of the missing as well," he told the silver haired twin who gave a nod and wrote on a scroll that had been given to her by one of the merchants. She watched as Folken went around from person to person to see how they were doing. He wanted to know who was injured from the attack, who needed the most care. Children were gathered together as he deputized men and women to act as locaters for the families as well as gathering what supplies the people had managed to bring with them.

"We need to keep calm. I've sent word to the village of Arzas, they're sure to help us. But we need to travel to them, and we are not going on the main road." Folken told the small council that he now had created made of the remainders of the religious order, the officials and those that were retired officers and merchants. He'd made a small corner on the top a designated strategy room of sorts, and explained his plans.

"Lady Laffite will take her men, and any other abled bodied persons, down to the remains of Fanelia to gather what supplies that we can. The Calvary unit will deal with the dead as per my instructions, and bring back what they can salvage."

"But they need to have a proper burial, one with a service," one of the priests said softly and Folken shook his head.

"There's no time for that. We need to get what we can, and leave. We don't know if they will come back and our people need shelter and safety."

"And where can we get that? The Wolf tribe can only offer so much protection," one officer said and there was a murmur around the group. Naria growled and pounded the crate that made up the table with the palm of her hand.

"The King knows this! But right now we need to think of at least getting people to a warm place, patched up, and fed. Or do you want our people to be dragon food? We can worry about security after we've had time to heal up."

Folken nodded slowly. An idea was forming in his head, but he needed to make sure that the right people were in place for it to work. He pushed back his bangs and looked around at the men and women in the room that had become his new council. Closing his eyes he folded his hands and brought them to his lips, contemplating what to say as the group seemed to try to find a way of agreeing to things.

"I have a plan; however, the first action is to get down this mountain and away from Zaibach. The people will return to our home, we will rebuild, of that you have my word. For now though, we must live as our forefathers before us. We founded this country after long years of wandering, and we can secure it again, but we have to use the land, and we have to think carefully of our next move. Zaibach has declared war upon our Kingdom, we have no army with which to fight it, so I intend to gather arms and a place for our people to stay safe while we address what has happened."

"War?" the word whipped about the table nervously, but no one spoke up. Finally Folken opened his eyes.

"Is it agreed then that we should go to the Arzas village for the time being, and call upon allies to help us in our time of need?"

"Aye," came the call back from the council and Folken dismissed them. Once gone Naria took his arm and Folken ran his free hand through his hair as she spoke kindly to him.

"You had a rough night didn't you, Lord Folken."

"You heard?"

She smiled, "We were asleep in the same place, it was hard not to hear you." Naria pouted slightly, her eyes showing concern. "You know you can come to me when you need some help. I'll always be here for you."

"I know, and thank you," he said kissing her forehead. The silver haired woman blushed and then saw him stare off into space. She poked his cheek and he glanced over at her.

"Payment for your thoughts?"

Folken waved it off and shook his head, "Nothing to concern yourself with. Just upset with myself for letting things turn out this way."

"And you're worried about your brother." He nodded as she went on, "You can still feel him right? That's good, we know he's on Gaea at least, and if he was in danger you would know that too."

Again Folken nodded and let her lean on his shoulder. She smiled at him and said softly, "Well if we know that, we will find him. It's just a matter of time, like you told me. Besides that I'm just glad that you're okay, Lord Folken. I don't know what we would do without you."

"Survive," he said and she looked up at him. He smiled at her gently in a way that she loved, though she felt somehow the smile was nothing more than a gesture of appreciation. "Survive and live on. You don't need me, well I should say, you don't need me to take care of you. You and your sister are strong enough to be on your own Naria. One day you may decide to visit other places, and I'll always be with you, but I want you two to see the world. It's not as bad a place as you used to think."

Naria snorted and her tail flicked as she stood, "After seeing what happened to our home, I think you may be wrong about that, Lord Folken."

He was about to protest when Eriya came over and motioned, "Lady Raphina has her men ready, she said if you're up for it, to come with, Lord Folken."

Naria looked at him surprised. This was the first she was hearing of this, "Lord Folken are you sure it's wise for you too?"

"I'll be fine," he said getting up. "Besides I need to see what they did."

"But why?" Naria asked following him out of the room as Eriya quickly followed after them, "Why would you want to see how it looks now? You know it's a disaster, what more is there for you to know?"

Folken paused and looked back at her, "Because Naria. I need to burn that image into my mind, so that when the time comes to make a choice, I'll have something to remind me as to what I was fighting for."

With that he walked away and off to find the group Raphina had waiting.

* * *

The trek down the mountain wasn't as long as the trek back would be. The group of thirty strode at a brisk pace in silence. They didn't want to give away their positions, at the same time they didn't feel much like talking. The work they were about to do would be depressing, and cheerful banter would not easy their mind. They needed to mourn some, and the silence was allowing them to do that.

At the head Folken walked with Raphina, their eyes forward at all times, ready to stop the troop when need be. Folken had taken some armor from one of the officers of Yurizen claw army as a means of protection. As they moved farther away from the top the smell of the burnt flesh, the charred remains of wood and stone, wafted into their noses and Raphina held back a gag, something a few of her men could not do, and they had to pause to let them collect themselves.

The pause gave Folken a moment to ready himself for what lay beyond the tunnel, what he saw he could not even anticipate. Everything that the eye could see was smoldering. Some houses were barely standing; others were torn asunder from their foundation and crushed below the heel of the Zaibach melefs. Officers lay dead in the streets, along with some civilians that had not made it from their homes. The young king took in everything, trying not to break down. He would do so in the private of the night when he was alone.

Buildings that once stood decorate in celebration now were blacken by the flames of war and battle. Blood seeped into the ground from the dead, and several times he had to turn away from the carnage. The work was slow, and painful. Men vomited at the site of their fallen comrades, or broke down in wails of tears. At first Raphina was going to tell them to stop, but Folken insisted that they be allowed to mourn as they could, though he worried the noise would call the dragons near. Still they would not be willing to travel the still warm grounds, that he was sure.

The two made their way around the town, helping the men gather what they could and place it in carts that were lightly or undamaged. Food, water, clothing, medicine and wrappings were seen as important, items like bowls and utensil were the last to be taken up if there was room. The men that could not be removed from their armor were taken to be burned with the armor that had been removed. Folken wanted nothing left behind for Zaibach to find and use.

"Sir, the General's bodies have been recovered," a man from Asona unit informed him, but a puzzled look came over his face, "But we could not recover their Melefs, Sire. It seems they were taken."

Folken paused, "Taken? By whom?"

"We don't know sir, they're just gone."

This bothered him and for a majority of the day Folken pondered about the fact of the likely hood that Zaibach had taken their melefs, but what for? They weren't the ones that they wanted, unless they were looking for new designs. It nagged at him even as he continued to work and soon he needed some place away from all the death.

"Where are you going?" Raphina asked him after they had loaded some salvaged vegetables into a cart, and Folken started to wander off.

"The shrine," he told her and she nodded following as a means of protection. Again they stayed silent, what really could they say to one another? Their home was ruined, and over what? A guymelef that meant little to an empire that already had more than enough weapons, it seemed insane. The walk up the steps was a fast one, neither wanted to linger too long, as the days travel would be a journey for the people. It would take at least two days and a night to get to Ruhm's village the way they would be traveling, and Folken wanted his people to take their time in moving.

"Why are we going here Lord Folken," Raphina asked him quietly, knowing full well his answer.

"I want to see that it's gone."

She nodded and kept up with his steps till they made it to the top, then both paused at the site laid out before them. Raphina was the first to react to the body of Balgus and bit back a cry of both pain and surprise. He wasn't lying on the ground like the other men, someone had come and laid him in state. A tingle of dread ran down her spine and she pulled her sword slowly.

"Someone was here," Folken noted and she nodded as they carefully approached the body. Not to her surprise Folken knelt down and prayed silently over the fallen Samurai and then nodded to Raphina indicating that she should wait out there. When he had disappeared inside, she quickly started to gather rocks that had broken off from the castle and placed them over his body, covering it completely so that no animal would touch him. Raphina knelt down before the fallen Samuai and wept bitterly.

_Why did our last conversation have to be about getting the king out?_ Raphina thought as she gripped her pant legs, tears spattering on her hands and running down her face. She thought of the days when she was small and he held her up above his head, laughing as she giggled. Of nights when the two spared so that she could learn, even of the day that he returned from travels and she ran all the way from the castle to greet him. Even though they were not blood, even though everyone knew that he was not her birth father, Raphina never saw him as anything else. Father and Master, he was her world, the only family she had left, and now he too had been taken from her.

She had hoped that he would be there for the day when her unit was fully recognized, when she could join the ranks of the generals. Even, perhaps, to give her away as a bride, to see grandchildren and live to old age teaching them his skills, those days would never come now and that fact made her sob even more. She wished she had had her sister's skills, to know of the old songs, to know of some way to mourn him properly. But all she knew was her blade and how her heart felt, so weeping and crying out for him was all she could do.

Inside the shrine Folken's heart ached, not only for his friend who was sobbing outside, but for the loss of his mentor. The shrine still stood, the white dragon had flown, and everything it had stood for was now in tatters and ash. He moved aside the stones away from the graves, and said a small prayer to his mother and father to keep Van safe. Standing his eyes shifted to the grave for the woman he once cared for more than anything in the world and whispered, "I'm sorry I could not protect your father, but I will keep your sister safe. Watch over us with your wisdom, Sora."

It was not long after her howls had ceased, when Raphina felt a slight hug to her shoulders and looked up at Folken who was looking at what she did.

"He would feel honored that you mourned him, but he would want you to keep your spirits high. You're the last of the Generals now Raphina."

"I am no General," she started and he shook his head.

"I have the authority to make you one, and I say that you are."

"For now," she sighed as he helped her to stand and turned her to face him.

"No, forever," Folken set her down to kneel and drew his old sword. Then held it up before her, "I Folken Lacour de Fanel, King of Fanelia, do here by grant you, Lady Raphina Lynette Lafitte, the title of Samurai General of Fanelia. Do you swear to uphold our traditions, to honor those that have fallen and protect those that stand before you? Do you swear to guard and defend our Kingdom and all its inhabitants? To you promise to keep the word of the king and hold true to your duties, protecting the weak, the innocent and above all else, the peace of our kingdom? Do you swear?!"

Raphina stared at him for a moment unable to breathe or think. Was this really happening? It all seemed surreal here in this place of death and loss, and yet, there they were. The king and the samurai, preforming a ceremony that normally would be one of great circumstance, but despite the lack of all the pomp and trumpeting, the feeling felt solemn and honest, Raphina looked directly into his eyes as she stated, "Yes, I will!"

Folken gave her a smile as she bowed her head and he placed the flat of his sword upon her right shoulder, "Then in the name of the kingdom, I bestow upon you the title and grant on to you all the duties and recognition of a Samurai general." He tapped her other shoulder as he finished, then set his sword before him and grinned, "Arise General Raphina Lynette Lafitte."

As she stood a cheer echoed around them, and both looked down to see a group of the thirty men standing and applauding. Some shouted calls of "Long Live General Lafitte!" and "Go Lady Raphina!"

Smiling through tears she looked at Folken and he whispered to her, "You better start giving orders, General."

_This,_ he thought as he watched Raphina take control of the men and get them to start pulling the carts, _this was something that would help them, something good to come out of all this misery._

The day turned to twilight as the group finally made their way back to the kingdom. Bodies had been buried or burned, the flames could be seen from the mountain, and Atherios had come not only with a message, but with a group of wolf men as well. They had been sent by Ruhm to be escorts for the people to the village of Arzas. They were going to take them on a shorter route then the one Folken had chosen, and healers and others were already waiting. They had come with carts to help carry those who were too weak to walk and those that were injured. A few healers had come too, and were working on wounds as the group traveled down the mountain and away from their burnt homeland.

The training melef was taken over by Odeani who carefully with the remaining army guided the people along the paths and into the darkness. They were taking a chance traveling at night, but the wolves knew how to deal with things, and Folken was sure that the dragons would go for the easy prey, namely whatever was left of food and supplies in Fanelia.

As they walked one of the wolves offered him a seat, but he declined, knowing that he was going to have to be able soon to walk far distances. For if his plans worked out, if everything went as he planned, then soon Dune would be taking a trip, one that would lead him to the land of Asturia in hopes of getting help for his kingdom and warning others of Zaibach's plans.

_Note: (Ten of Swords) -__Ruin, desolation, disruption, although generally this refers to a group rather than an individual. Sorrow, sudden misfortune, loss of loved one, Burdens to bear. Though this can be optimistic as this is the lowest point in the cycle and things can only get better from here. _


End file.
